


Love Is a Promise

by itspantsonfirepatrick, shihunia



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daycare, Alternate Universe - High School, Bullying, M/M, although the bullying is p moderate and doesnt really come up too much
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-04
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2018-01-11 03:04:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 91,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1167888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itspantsonfirepatrick/pseuds/itspantsonfirepatrick, https://archiveofourown.org/users/shihunia/pseuds/shihunia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gavin had always been the odd one out. So when Michael, the new kid at school, stands up for him, the two of them become the best of friends–practically inseparable. But Michael soon moves away, leaving Gavin to be on his own again. Fast forward to 10 years later, and Gavin's become the most popular kid at school–the brains, the friends, and the power. In comes the new kid, and Gavin saves him from a bunch of kids picking on him. And what do you know, there's something strangely familiar about him...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pinky Promise

**Author's Note:**

> cowritten and beta'd by mle, my bffl-for-lffl

“You’re so stupid!”

“Why’s your dumb nose so big?”

“Why do you talk weird?”

Michael didn’t have to strain his ears to hear everything the other children were saying. The boy they were bullying sat alone at his own table, idly coloring something, not daring to look up at any of them. The bullies were standing behind him, towering over the boy. They laughed and taunted the other boy so openly, as if there was nothing wrong with it.

Michael turned to Lindsay, who was currently explaining how absolutely  _imperative_ (that was the word the teachers used) it was to go to the bathroom right after lunch when everyone else went, because nap time came right after bathroom time, and if you didn’t go you’d really have to go during nap time, but the teachers won’t let you out during nap time so you’d be suffering for half an hour while everyone else slept, or you’d wet the bed, and you  _really_  didn’t want–

“Lindsay, does that happen a lot?” Michael interrupted, pointing to the boy who was  _still_  being taunted by the other kids.

Lindsay looked over to where Michael was pointing and sighed. “Yeah. That’s Gavin. He came here in the middle of last year. The teacher said he was from England, and the boys always pick on him because of the way he talks and stuff!” She huffed, putting her hands on her hips. “They’re really mean, and I don’t like ‘em.”

Michael nodded, assuring her that he’d heard what she said. He watched as the boys continued to tease and taunt Gavin mercilessly, almost to the point of tears. “Should we do something?” he asked Lindsay.

Lindsay nodded. “Yeah, I’ll tell the teacher. But I  _always_  tell the teacher, and they _always_  get in trouble.” She sighed, turning to look for where the teacher was. “But they keep doing it! I don’t get why they–”

“Stop it! Don’t hurt him!”

Lindsay was about to walk away when Michael moved in to push the boys away from Gavin, just as they were about to start getting physically violent. Gavin’s chair had toppled over, and Gavin was on the floor. Michael stepped in front of Gavin, his arms outstretched, covering Gavin from the other boys. Michael turned to peek back at Gavin, whose eyes were comically wide, and his mouth hanging open.

“You okay?” Michael asked, pushing his feet wider apart.

Gavin’s mouth snapped shut as he nodded frantically. “Y-Yeah,” he stuttered.

Michael nodded at him before turning his attention back to the other boys. “Don’t come near Gavin anymore!” he shouted.

“Why not?” one of the boys asked, stepping forward. He crossed his arms. “You can’t tell us what to do!”

Michael responded by stretching his arms even wider, if possible. “Well, I’m telling you that you can’t! If you do, I’ll protect Gavin! So you’re gonna have to get through me first!”

“What makes you think you can protect him from all us?” another boy taunted, forcefully poking Michael’s chest, causing him to stumble backwards. Gavin flinched, holding his hands up in front of him, catching Michael, giving him the force he needed to bounce back up.

“Well good always beats bad! So I can win against all of you!” Michael looked back, grinned at Gavin, and turned to the boys once more.

One of the boys was about to say something more when the teacher called the troublemakers over to her. They left the two of them alone, grumbling about how they’d get Michael back.

As soon as the other boys had left, the sour look on Michael’s face had disappeared. He sighed, letting his arms fall to his sides. He turned around to offer a hand to Gavin, who was still on the floor, dumbfounded. Gavin blinked a few times before finally taking Michael’s hand and standing up right.

Michael grinned at him again. “Make sure that if they ever bother you, you tell me, okay? I won’t let them hurt you anymore.”

Gavin nodded, wiping his eyes with the back of his hands. “Thanks… But, how do you know my name? I never saw you before.”

 “Oh, I’m Michael!” Michael held out his hand again for Gavin to take, and shook his hand excitedly. “I’m new, just got here today. Lindsay told me your name.” He turned around, scanning the room for Lindsay before pointing to her. “See her?”

Gavin’s eyes followed the direction Michael was pointing in as he nodded. “Yeah, I know her. She always helps me when those boys won’t leave me alone.” He smiled, his voice growing softer. “So, what you said… Do you mean it?”

“Huh? Whaddya mean, ‘did I mean it’? That I’m new here?” Michael asked, his eyebrows furrowing and head titling to the side. “If that’s what you wanna know, shouldn’t you already  _know_  it? I mean, since you woulda seen me before if I wasn’t–”

“No, not that!” Gavin laughed. He then lowered his gaze to the floor before meekly saying, “I mean, um… That you won’t let them hurt me anymore?”

It was Michael’s turn to laugh as his confused expression broke out into a full grin. “Of course I mean it! I promise, Gavin, I won’t let them hurt you anymore!”

“Thanks, Michael. You’re really nice,” Gavin said, a smile on his face.

“Nah, all I did was the right thing to do!” The confused expression was back as Michael asked, “Don’t your friends ever help you when they hurt you?”

The smile on Gavin’s face faded. He looked down at the floor again, wringing his hands as he explained, “No… I don’t have any friends here.”

Michael’s confused expression turned to one of anger as he quickly placed his hands on Gavin’s shoulders, causing Gavin to jump slightly. “Gavin.”

Frightened by Michael’s sudden anger, Gavin looked back up at him, eyes wide, and meekly replied, “Wh-what, Michael?”

“Don’t you lie to me, Gavin.”

Gavin’s frowned. “I’m not! I really don’t. Everyone’s all nice, but no one ever wants to really  _talk_  to me. I’m always alone here.” He gestured to the table behind them.

With a huff, Michael removed his hands from Gavin’s shoulders and threw them down to his sides. He turned away from Gavin, leaving him to stare in surprise, thinking that he had done something wrong to make Michael angry. That somehow it was his fault that Michael was mad, and that it was his fault he didn’t have any friends. That the bullies were right, and that he really  _was_  stupid, and worthless, and that nobody could ever like him–

 Suddenly, Gavin was pulled out of his thoughts and into Michael’s arms, enveloped in a hug. Gavin gasped, the force almost bringing Gavin to his knees. “Mi-Michael?” he barely managed.

“From now on, we’re gonna be friends.”

Gavin’s eyes widened even more, if it was possible. “Mi–”

“I’m not lying, Gavin. I mean it. If no one else wants to be your friend, then I’ll be there, okay? And you’ll be there for me. If no one,  _no one_ , wants to be our friends, we’ll just laugh at ‘em, cuz you have me, and I have you! And we don’t need  _anyone_ else!” Michael pulled away from Gavin for a second, grinning at him once again. “Okay, Gavin?”

After hearing that from Michael, Gavin pulled him back in. His legs really  _did_ give out that time, as he fell to his knees, gripping Michael’s shirt even tighter. Not able to keep from crying any longer, he turned into a blubbering mess, crying into Michael’s shoulder.

Surprised by Gavin’s reaction, Michael dropped to his knees as well, before Gavin got too heavy for him to keep holding up. “Gavin? Why are you crying? You okay?”

Sniffling, Gavin nodded, pulling away from Michael. He laughed, seeing Michael’s concerned face. “Michael, I’m fine, I’m okay, it’s just… I never had a friend before.”

Michael’s face fell, as he started to cry as well. “B-But it’s okay now, Gavin, cuz you have me, right?” he asked, sounding more like he was trying to reassure himself than he was reassuring Gavin.

“Yes, Michael, it’s better than okay.” He pulled Michael back in, saying, “I’m really happy you’re my friend, Michael.”

Michael nodded, hugging him tighter. “I’m really happy we’re friends, too, Gavin!”

They spent the rest of the day alone together. No one had the heart to separate them, even their parents had a hard time getting them apart.

 

The next day, they ate lunch together.

The two were seated at Gavin’s table, isolated from all the other kids. The bullies hadn’t bothered them since yesterday, and were sitting far away from the two boys. Gavin was still sitting, looking at Michael standing over his lunchbox, unzipping it and looking inside.

As Michael was opening his own lunchbox, he noticed Gavin didn’t have his with him. “Gavin,” he asked, pulling his lunch out of the container, “where’s your lunch?”

Gavin frowned. “I forgot it at home.” He looked down at the empty space in front of him. “I do that a lot.”

Michael’s eyebrows furrowed. “And you don’t eat anything? Don’t you get really hungry?”

Gavin nodded. “Sometimes the teachers will give me something. But sometimes they won’t have anything, so I don’t eat those days. But I’m used to it, so–”

Michael cut him off by tearing off half of his sandwich and shoving it in Gavin’s face. “Take it. If you don’t eat it, I’m not eating, too.”

“Michael, it’s your lunch! And I said I was okay, so–”

Michael placed Gavin’s half in front of him and pushed the rest of his own away. “I won’t eat it.”

Gavin frowned. “Michael, you’re gonna get hungry.”

“So will you,” Michael retorted.

Gavin pouted, staring at Michael, silently telling him that he’d get too hungry to bear with it. Michael simply stared back, a smirk on his face, telling Gavin that he wouldn’t give up.

They continued staring until Michael’s stomach growled for the third time. Gavin sighed, reluctantly taking the half that was put in front of him. “But only cuz I don’t want you to be hungry!”

“Whatever you say, Gavin.” Michael took out the rest of his lunch and proceeded to break a chocolate chip cookie in half, handing Gavin his part.  “But you’re eating this, too!”

Gavin took his half of the cookie without hesitation. “A cookie? Really? I can have it?”

Michael nodded, smiling. “Yeah! I love chocolate chip cookies. They’re my favorite. But I don’t mind sharing with you, since you don’t have any lunch. And we’re friends, too!”

Gavin smiled and continued to eat, no longer feeling bad about taking half of Michael’s lunch.

The day after that, Gavin made sure to remember to bring his own lunch, along with  _two_  chocolate chip cookies. And they promised to eat lunch together every day.

 

 

The next week, they went home together.

Michael and Gavin were usually the last kids to go home anyway, so it wasn’t much of a problem at first. Sometimes Michael’s parents would be late, and Gavin and his parents would wait with him. It was never much longer than an hour that they had to wait.

Today, though, both Michael’s parents were too busy to come get him, as the teacher had gotten a call from Michael’s father.

Michael and Gavin sat next to each other on their backpacks, watching the road in front of them as cars drove by. Gavin’s parents stood behind them, idly chatting and watching the cars go by as well.

“You could come home with me, Michael. Can’t he, Mr. Ramsey?” Gavin looked up at Geoff with a pleading smile. Michael gave him a strange look, but Gavin brushed it off as him being confused as why Gavin wanted Michael to come back with him.

Geoff nodded. “If he’s okay with coming home with us, and if his parents are okay with it, then it’s fine with us.” Geoff looked at Michael and asked, “Do you know your parents’ phone number?”

Michael shook his head.

“Alright, we’ll get your parents’ number from the teacher. Griffon and I will leave you guys out here for a few minutes.” He turned to Gavin. “Sure you can manage a few minutes out here alone?”

Gavin grinned. “I won’t do anything! We’ll be fine, I promise!”

Geoff smiled. “Okay, we’ll be back in two seconds!” He ruffled Gavin’s hair and went inside with Griffon after that.

As they went inside, Michael turned to Gavin. “Gavin, how come you call your dad ‘Mr. Ramsey’? Do you call your mom ‘Mrs. Ramsey’ too?”

Gavin frowned. “Michael, um… They’re not my parents.”

Michael looked at him, confused. “Then where  _are_  your parents?”

“In heaven.”

Michael’s mouth fell open. “Oh,” was his only reply, not knowing what else to say.

Gavin shook his head. “No, it’s okay, Michael. It was last year. It was a long time ago.”

Michael frowned. He knew a year wasn’t really that long, but he refrained from saying anything about it. “Um, but you’re from England, right? How come you’re here now?”

Gavin sighed, tracing circles in the dirt with his finger. “I have lots of family. But no one wanted me. They all said they couldn’t take me.” Tears were starting to well up in his eyes, his voice cracking as he continued speaking. “They didn’t want me. I’m a bad kid, aren’t I? That’s why they don’t want me. Maybe Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey don’t even want me.”

Michael shook his head frantically, not wanting Gavin to cry again. “No, Gavin! No, I bet they wanted you! They, um, maybe they can’t take care of you? Like, um, my parents told me there’s lots of people who don’t have money so they can’t keep their kids. Maybe they don’t have money?”

Gavin was crying by then. “No, they just don’t want me. Maybe my parents didn’t want me either. That’s why they left me. That’s why they left me there alone.”

Michael’s eyes widened. “No way! No, your parents definitely wanted you! Why would they get you if they didn’t want you, right, Gavin?”

“No, Michael.” Gavin looked up at him through teary eyes. “Everything and everyone I love leaves me,” he said.

Michael’s face dropped as he pulled Gavin into a hug. “Gavin, no.  _I_  love you! And I’m never gonna leave you.”

Gavin hugged him tighter, and just barely whispered, “Michael, promise me you won’t leave me. Promise me you’ll never leave.”

Michael pulled away from Gavin, cupping Gavin’s face in his hands and pressing their foreheads together. “I promise, Gavin. I will never, ever, never leave you.”

Gavin’s eyes narrowed skeptically. “You promise? Never ever?”

Michael’s face was more serious than ever, but his resolve was quickly cracking. “Never ever!”

”Never forever?” Gavin asked, in a teasing tone.

Michael’s face was breaking out into a smile. “Never for a million, gazillion years! We’re gonna be together forever, and we’re gonna grow up, and we’re gonna be really old together, and we’re gonna die together, and be together in heaven, and, and–”

Gavin laughed at Michael’s words, pulling away and wiping his eyes with the back of his sleeve. “Okay! Okay, Michael, I believe you!”

“Good! Because I mean it, okay? You better believe me! Have I ever lied to you?” Michael asked, ruffling Gavin’s hair up.

Gavin laughed, weakly pushing Michael’s hands away. “No! No, Michael! You never lied! Now stop, stop! You’re messing it up!”

Michael grinned, pulling his hands back to himself. “Sure, since it’s not already messed up.”

Gavin pouted. “Hey! Mrs. Ramsey always combs it in the morning, and I think it’s nice!”

“That’s right,” Griffon agreed, walking out of the building with Geoff. “And it’s not just ‘nice’, it’s great.” She smiled, looking down at the two boys.

“Well, Michael,” Geoff started, crouching down to be at eye level with the two boys, “it looks like you’re coming home with us today. Your parents will come get you after dinner, is that okay with you?”

Michael nodded. “Yeah! That’s great!”

Geoff smiled and stood back up. “Well, let’s get in the car and we’ll be off!”

Gavin took Michael’s hand and ran up to their car, pulled the door open, and crawled into the car. He patted the space next to him, signaling for Michael to sit there next to him. When Michael was seated next to him, Griffon buckled them up and slipped into her own seat in the front.

Geoff jumped into the driver’s seat and turned to face the boys. “Alright, boys, are we ready to go?”

Both of them nodded, and Geoff turned back to face forward. “Then let’s go!”

As the car set into motion, Gavin turned to Michael. “Michael, do you play video games?”

Michael’s face lit up. “Yeah! I play video games all the time!”

“Do you like Mario? I like to play that a lot,” Gavin explained, a grin on his face the whole time.

Michael nodded. “I like that game, too!” He sighed, looking down away from Gavin. “Oh, but it’s at home.”

Gavin laughed. “It’s okay! In my game we can both play at the same time!”

Michael’s grin was back just as quickly, but before he could respond, Griffon had cut in. “If you two want to play a fun game, why don’t you try Just Dance? Your dad and I play it all the time, and you’ve seen us dance. Why don’t you try it with Michael, Gavin?”

Geoff scoffed. “Yeah, and let Gavin hit himself in the face with the remote.”

“Oh, come on, Geoff!”

“I’m just saying! He’s done it before, he’ll do it again.” He looked in the rearview mirror at Gavin. “Oh, Gavin, I’m just kidding. I just don’t want you to get hurt, alright? And I certainly don’t want you to hurt our guest,” he said, looking at Michael.

Gavin pouted, crossing his arms. “I’m not gonna hit myself in the face!” He paused for a second before adding, although much quieter, “At least, not again.”

Geoff shrugged, turning his attention back to the road. “Look, he even admits it, come on.”

Griffon laughed, turning to look at the two of them. “He’s just saying that because last time you two played, you hit  _him_ in the face _,_  too.”

“But I said I was sorry! I really won’t do it again, and I really won’t hurt anyone! I’ll try super hard not to hurt Michael, too!” Gavin turned to Michael, sticking his pinky out and holding his hand out to Michael, motioning for him to hold his hand out as well. “C’mon, Michael, pinky promise!”

Michael laughed, but entwined their pinkies anyway. “Pinky promise!” he repeated.

Gavin turned to look at the rearview mirror again, meeting Geoff’s gaze. “See? See? We pinky promised! I won’t hurt him! So we can play, right?”

As Geoff pulled into the driveway, he turned around to look at Gavin. He sighed, but smiled at Gavin anyway.

Needless to say, they were allowed to play. An entire hour of the two boys dancing, laughing, and the short interruption when Gavin had  _accidentally_  (he made sure to stress) hit Michael in the stomach, causing Michael to fall backwards on his bottom, laughing the whole time, yelling, “Gavin, you promised!” This, in turn, caused Gavin to overreact and drop to his knees, asking Michael if he was okay, and that it was an accident, and that he didn’t mean it, and that he was sorry, super sorry, so super sorry, and was only quieted when Michael cupped his face in his hands, telling him it was okay, he’s okay, and that he didn’t need to worry.

And, after totally exhausting themselves, they lay down next to each other on the floor, waiting for Michael’s parents to come get him. And when they did, Michael and Gavin promised to go to each other’s houses and spend time together like this more often.

The next month, they played house together.

A second playhouse was added to the play-area. Since the other girls were  _always_ hogging the first one, Lindsay (who, somewhere along the way, had befriended the two of them) wanted to use the second one, and had dragged Michael and Gavin along with her.

“I’m gonna be the daughter!” Lindsay declared, plopping down in the corner of the house. “When I play with the other girls, I have to be a mommy, or the dog, and I never get to be the daughter!” She huffed, crossing her arms. “It’s not fair, so I can be the daughter now, right? You’ll let me!”

It was more of a command than a question, but the boys agreed anyway.

“Sure,” Michael said, sitting down in front of her. “Does that mean we’re your daddies?”

Lindsay shrugged. “You don’t have to be. But if you want to, you can.”

Michael grinned, tugging Gavin’s arm and sitting him down next to him. Gavin let out a yelp, hitting the house floor with a thump. “Then we’ll be your daddies, won’t we, Gavin?” he pleaded.

Gavin nodded. “Yeah, okay! Oh, but should both of us work, or only one of us?”

Michael nodded. “Well, we’re gonna need someone to watch Lindsay, right? So, hmm, I’ll work! You can stay here and watch Lindsay. Oh, unless you wanna work.”

Gavin shook his head. “No, it’s okay, Tomorrow I’ll work though, and you can stay home.”

Michael grinned, standing and heading for the door. “And then we can switch every day!”

Lindsay laughed. “As long as I get to be the daughter! You two can do whatever.”

Gavin stood up, too, moving next to Michael. “Yeah, yeah, and  _you_  do whatever, too.”

Michael laughed, pushing the door open. “I’m gonna go work now!” He grabbed Gavin’s collar, bringing him close to kiss him goodbye on the cheek. “I’ll be back, um, soon!” His face colored as he ran out the door, leaving Gavin to stand, dumbfounded and holding his cheek.

Lindsay gagged, covering her eyes with her hands. “Ew, guys! Don’t do that in front of your daughter! I’m not ‘sposed to see that!”

Gavin, being too shocked, didn’t reply to her.

Gavin spent the next ten or so minutes idly sweeping with a toy broom as Lindsay was making yet another flower crown (as she was known to be a “professional” at). She was just about finished when she looked out the window to see Michael returning.

“Ga– I mean, um, Daddy? Mi– hm…” Lindsay paused for a moment to think of a different name for Michael. “Papa’s home!” She placed the flower crown down next to her and sat up straighter, waiting for Michael to open the door.

As the door swung open, Gavin turned around to greet Michael, but was cut off when Michael held out a handful of flowers to him.

“Got these for you. They’ll make the house pretty,” Michael explained, smiling.

Gavin, although confused, took the flowers anyway. “They  _are_  pretty. But I don’t know where to put ‘em.” He turned to the window. “Here?”

Lindsay reached for Gavin’s hands. “No, no! Give them to me. I’ll make something prettier!”

With a shrug, Gavin handed them to Lindsay. She snatched them from his hands and counted them. Sighing, she explained, “There’s not enough for a crown. Buuut,” she drawled out the word, already starting to craft something. Within a minute or so, she had finished. “Here! Rings.”

Lindsay had made two rings, giving one to both boys. “You’re my daddies, so you’re married, and so you gotta wear these rings.”

Gavin’s eyebrows furrowed, but he put the ring on anyway. He turned his hand, admiring it. “But we’re not _really_  married.”

Michael had slipped his ring on as well. “Well, we’re married while we play house. So let’s wear them anyways.” He kissed Gavin’s cheek again, while Lindsay covered her eyes, too. “I love you, Gavin!”

Gavin’s face colored, but this time he didn’t touch his cheek. “Y–yeah, Michael. I love you, too,” he returned, a smile on his face.

Lindsay gagged again. “You guys are so mushy! Are you gonna do that every time you leave and come back?”

“Duh!” Michael exclaimed. “Mommies and daddies do that, don’t they? So daddies and daddies can do it too, right?”

Lindsay shrugged. “As long as it’s not in front of me! I don’t even like seeing my  _real_ mommy and daddy kiss, and just cuz you’re my friends doesn’t make it different!”

Michael laughed. “Fine, fine! We’ll tell you! Then you can, um, turn around or cover your eyes or whatever. Deal?”

Lindsay nodded, going back to her flower crown. “Sure, deal.”

Gavin hadn’t looked up from the ring on his finger when he interrupted the two of them. “Hey, Michael?”

Michael turned to him, and seeing Gavin play with his ring made him look down at his own, comparing it to Gavin’s. “Yeah, Gavin?”

“We should play house like this every day,” he more stated than asked, still looking down at his ring.

Michael nodded, looking up at him. “Sure, Gavin. It’s fun playing with you like this. And Lindsay, too–”

“Also,” he interrupted, his voice growing softer. “We should get married for real one day.”

When Michael didn’t respond, Gavin looked up from playing with his ring to see Michael’s reaction. When he did, he gasped. He’d never seen Michael’s face so red. “Um, Michael?” he asked, tentatively. “Did you hear me?”

Michael slowly nodded, reassuring him. “Um, yeah. Yeah, Gavin.” He looked down at his ring again, not meeting Gavin’s gaze. “That sounds really nice. We should.”

Gavin grinned, throwing his arms around Michael, catching him off guard. “Then it’s a promise! I love you, Michael!” he laughed, kissing Michael on the forehead.

Lindsay giggled, continuing to look down at her work, but knew exactly what was going on. “Geez, you guys are such dorks. Why do I have to have you as my daddies?”

And they promised to play house together (with Lindsay as their daughter) every day.


	2. Broken Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright so this is kinda late since we were going for updates every monday bUT I was swamped in midterms oN monday and it was terrible bUT I GOT THROUGH AND THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS
> 
> also this is probably my favorite chapter but I don't know if it will be the same for you
> 
> mle says she is sorry and she loves all of you
> 
> i don't know if i'm sorry but i love you guys too
> 
> also i'd like to apologize if you read these notes and are totally confused so i am liarliarplants4hire and mle is itspantsonfirepatrick

Summer was coming, and before they knew it, there was only one week of class left.

Michael had come to school last October, and ever since he and Gavin had become friends, they’d become _inseparable_. Every day was routine for them; sit together, learn the lessons they were taught that day, have lunch together, nap together (or, on restless days, they would make silly faces at each other and try not to laugh), read together, finish the rest of their work together, and play house until the end of the day.

Michael also started to come over more and more. Every now and then became once or twice a week, and once or twice a week became up to four times a week (including weekends). Now Michael would go home with Gavin almost every day.

“Michael!” Gavin called, pulling his backpack on. He went over to Michael, watching him pack his things. “Are you coming home with me today?”

“Yeah,” Michael responded. “But not too late. My dad said we were gonna do something today, so I guess I won’t be there too long.”

Gavin shook his head. “Nah, it’s okay! But I wanna tell you something, so we gotta get home super quick, okay?”

“Okay, okay, just lemme put my stuff away,” Michael said, shoving his papers into his backpack. As he was putting his backpack on his back, Gavin grabbed his hand and headed for the door.

“You’re so slow, Michael! Come on!” Gavin laughed, pulling Michael along with him. “And you’re so heavy!”

Michael laughed, running to keep up with Gavin. “ _I’m_ heavy? You weigh, like, five pounds or something! I picked you up tons of times, and you feel like nothing! My backpack’s probably heavier than you!”

Gavin pushed the door open, leading the two of them outside. “No way! I’ve got to be heavier than a bunch of pape–!”

Gavin’s words were cut short and replaced with a terrified squeal when Geoff suddenly picked Gavin up, hoisting him up onto his shoulders. “Heavier than a bunch of papers? Nah, I gotta say, you’re pretty light.”

Michael laughed, looking up at Gavin, who looked completely frightened at the sudden change in height. Gavin’s eyes were wide, his arms wrapped tightly around Geoff’s head and his legs practically choking him. Michael couldn’t keep himself from laughing at the ridiculous sight.

“Gavin, please let go, you’re gonna choke me to death!” Geoff laughed, prying Gavin off of him and setting him on the ground again. “You okay? I didn’t mean to scare you so bad.”

Michael was still laughing. “You shoulda seen your face! You were so scared!”

Gavin pouted. “Hey! What if Mr. Ramsey did that to you? Wouldn’t you be scared, too?”

Before Michael could respond, Geoff had pulled him up onto his shoulders. “Let’s find out!” he exclaimed, laughing.

Michael gasped, scared for a second that he would fall over, but with Geoff holding him, he knew he would be fine. He looked down at Gavin’s confused face and laughed. “I was only scared for a second! It’s really cool, though! It’s like I’m super tall!”

Gavin’s confused expression broke out into a grin. “Really? I wasn’t really looking, but is it that cool? Can I see again, then?”

Geoff laughed, putting Michael down. “Come on, guys. I thought you wanted to get home soon? Michael’s leaving early, isn’t he?”

Gavin gasped. “Oh, that’s right! Yeah, we gotta go now!” He grabbed Michael’s hand again, dragging him towards the car. “Come on, Michael! Come on!”

“I’m going, I’m going!” Michael responded, almost tripping over his own feet from trying to keep up with Gavin. “What’s so important that we gotta hurry?”

“I’m gonna tell you!” Gavin replied, opening the car door. He climbed in and buckled his seat belt quickly, looking at Michael expectantly. “But if you don’t get in, we won’t get home, and I won’t tell you!”

Michael shook his head but climbed into the car anyway. “I don’t get you Gavin, but okay, I’m getting in the car.”

As soon as they were on the road, Gavin wouldn’t talk to Michael at all. He bounced up and down in his seat in excitement, eager to get home. He turned to Michael and grinned.

“Not gonna tell me?” Michael asked, smiling right back.

Gavin frantically shook his head, zipped his lips, and turned away. Michael rolled his eyes, but he laughed anyway. If Gavin was happy, he was happy, and he was just as excited to know what Gavin wanted to tell him.

When Geoff pulled into the driveway, Gavin wasted no time in pulling off his seatbelt and hopping out of the car. He raced for the backyard, and was out of sight in seconds. Geoff sighed, climbing out of the car, mumbling, “What’s gotten into him?”

Michael jumped out of the car and pushed the gate to the backyard open. He looked about the fenced in area, taking in the view, as he did every day. Well kept, green, and a beautiful fruit and vegetable garden.

Gavin told Michael that the garden had been there from before they moved in, but Mrs. Ramsey thought it was too pretty to just let it die, so she kept it alive and flourishing.

_“It’s ‘specially nice in the summer, cuz I don’t have school! Mrs. Ramsey bakes lots of stuff, and I help her!” Gavin had told him. “It’s mostly sweet things, but sometimes all three of us will cook dinner with all the vegetables! Look!” Gavin pointed out the vegetables as he named them. “There’s tomatoes, and lettuce, and carrots, and onions… And lots of stuff!”_

_Michael looked at all the different plants. “At my house, we don’t have lots of plants like this. But we have an apple tree!”_

_Gavin gasped. “Oh! The tree, did you see the tree?”_

_Michael’s eyebrows furrowed. Confused, he replied, “Well, ‘course I saw_ my _tree–”_

_“No, not yours!” Gavin laughed, turning Michael around. “Ours!”_

Michael turned from the garden to look up at the lemon tree in the back corner of the yard. He smiled at the memory, the first time they had spent time under the tree. Ever since then, that was their special place. No one ever disturbed them when they were under that tree. Whether it was something happy or sad, anything they had to tell each other was told underneath that tree. And whatever was told never left the backyard.

Michael moved to the tree, looking behind it for Gavin. Sure enough, Gavin was seated on the ground, looking up at Michael with a pout. “You took too long, Michael!” Gavin exclaimed. “We’re finally home, aren’t you excited?”

Michael laughed, plopping down next to Gavin. “Duh, I’m excited! Are you gonna whine about me taking so long, or are you just gonna tell me already?”

Gavin’s pout was quickly replaced by a grin. “Fine! But cover your eyes, okay?”

Michael sighed, but covered his eyes with his hands anyway. He tried leaving space to peek through his fingers, but Gavin caught him.

“No, no! You gotta cover ‘em completely, or you’re never gonna know what I wanna tell you!” Reluctantly, Michael complied, totally covering his eyes. He heard Gavin turn around and rummage through his backpack for something.

“Okay,” Gavin started, turning back around to face Michael. “Remove your hands!”

Michael’s arms dropped to his sides. He was greeted with Gavin grinning right at him, his hands behind his back. “What are you hi–?”

“Surprise!” Gavin brought his hands in front of him, holding a paper in front of Michael’s face. “This is for you, Michael!”

Michael took the paper from Gavin’s hands, observing what was on it. “A picture? Did you draw it?”

Gavin nodded. “Yeah! See, look! It’s you, me, and Lindsay!” He pointed each of them out as he named them. “We’re playing house here, and me and you are daddies, and Lindsay’s our daughter! Do you like it?” He looked at Michael’s face expectantly, hoping for a happy reaction.

Michael looked at the paper once more, a feeling of warmth and happiness pooling in his chest from Gavin’s gift. “Yeah… Yeah, Gavin, I really like it. Why’d you make it for me?”

Gavin’s elated expression turned to one of confusion. “Why? Um, well…” He paused for a moment before continuing. “It’s a thank you! Cuz, um, I’m really happy we’re friends! And you make me really happy. And… And if you weren’t my friend, I wouldn’t be so happy. So I really wanted to show you how much I love you, and I asked Mrs. Ramsey about it, and she said I should give you something! But I didn’t know what to get you, so she said I should just make it myself. So I drew this for you! I tried really hard, and I’m not good at drawing, so I’m really happy you like it!”

Michael nodded. “Yeah, I really like it, Gavin! …but I don’t have anything to give you.”

Gavin shook his head. “You don’t have to give me anything back! As long as you’re friends with me, I’ll be super happy!” He grinned, throwing his arms around Michael. His face colored as he asked, “And, um… You’re gonna keep your promise, right?”

Michael returned the hug, but was confused by Gavin’s question. “Which promise? I’m keeping all my promises! We eat lunch every day, we play house every day, and I come over all the time. What other promises are there?”

Gavin laughed. “I know you’re keeping those! But you also promised that we’re gonna get married when we’re older. You’re gonna keep that promise, right?”

Michael laughed, pulling away from Gavin. “Duh! Of course I’m gonna keep that promise! Why wouldn't I?”

Gavin frowned, looking down at the ground. "I know you're gonna keep it! But sometimes I get scared. I was always alone before we were friends. I don't wanna be like that again." He was playing with the grass beneath him, twisting and uprooting the blades of grass. "It's just that sometimes I think that you won't keep that promise. What if I'm just all alone again when you leave?"

Michael grinned. "But you won't be alone! I'm gonna be with you forever, I told you! I promised, didn't I? So of course I'm keepin' it!"

Gavin looked back up at Michael, smiling. "I know you will!" He laughed, letting the blades of grass fall from his hands. "Mrs. Ramsey tells me that I just worry too much. She says I get too worried about lots of things. Remember when you came over that first time and I promised I wouldn't hit you but I did?"

Michael paused for a moment to think about it, but eventually nodded. "Yeah, we played Just Dance, like we always do now."

Gavin nodded. "Yeah, and I was really scared that I really hurt you. I felt really bad and thought you were really mad at me."

"Oh, I remember that!” Michael snickered. “Your mom is right, though!" Ever since hearing about how Gavin was adopted by the Ramseys and how Gavin was so stubborn about calling them "Mr. Ramsey" and "Mrs. Ramsey", Michael had decided that he would never refer to them other that as "Gavin's mom and dad".

Gavin pouted. "I can't help it! After everything that's happened, I don't wanna make anyone mad at me anymore! I told you, what if they leave?"

Michael sighed, but smiled at Gavin anyway. "I told you so many times, Gavin! No one's gonna leave! 'Specially not me!"

Gavin laughed, jumping to his feet. "Never ever, I know, I know!" He extended his hand out to Michael, helping him up. "Let's go inside and play some games before you leave, okay?"

"Sure, Gavin. I get to pick, though!" Michael grinned, running ahead of Gavin.

"Hey!" Gavin called, racing after him. "That's not fair! You picked yesterday!"

"Too slow!" Michael laughed, reaching for the door handle. His face almost collided with the door when it suddenly opened, but Michael quickly moved out of the way. He did, however, hit Gavin as he fell backwards, causing Gavin to fall back onto his bottom.

"Oh, good," Geoff said, holding the door open, "you guys are done." He waited until Gavin was standing up before continuing. "Michael, your parents are here. Or really, have been here. They're waiting for you in the car now."

Michael frowned, turning to Gavin. "Looks like we won't be able to play today."

"Nah, it's okay! We can play tomorrow." Gavin looked back to the tree. "Just don't forget your gift!" He ran back to the tree to go get it, and returned with the picture in his hands. He handed the drawing to Michael. "Keep it forever, okay?"

Michael looked at Gavin, a confused expression on his face. "Your gift or our promise?"

Gavin grinned widely. "Both, of course!"

Michael laughed. "Yeah, definitely!"

"Alright, alright, your parents are waiting for you, Michael," Geoff cut in, ushering the kids inside. He closed the back door and waited for Michael to get his things together. Gavin helped Michael put his things into his backpack, carefully placing his drawing in Michael’s folder so it wouldn’t get wrinkled.

Gavin, with Michael trailing behind as he pulled his backpack on, headed to the front door. The door was already wide open, and Griffon waited for them there. Arms crossed, she leaned against the door frame, looking out at Michael’s parents’ car where his parents were waiting for him. When the two arrived at the doorway, Griffon looked down at them, gave a bittersweet smile, and left the room without saying goodbye.

Confused, Michael turned to Gavin. “How come your mom left? She always tells me goodbye when I leave.”

Gavin shrugged. “Maybe she just forgot to say it today.”

“How could she forget? She always says it every day.”

Before Gavin could respond, Geoff had entered the room. He crouched down to be at eye level with the two of them. “Michael, sure you have everything? Didn’t forget anything at all?”

Michael nodded. “Yeah, I have everything! Gavin helped me pack, so I’m sure I have everything!”

“Alright, that’s good. Well, your parents are waiting for you,” Geoff gestured to the car, “so you should get going.”

Before Michael was able to leave, Gavin pulled him into a quick hug. “See you tomorrow, okay?”

Michael laughed, returning the hug. “We can play tomorrow to make up for what we didn’t get to do today!”

Geoff frowned. “Aw, come on. Don’t I get a hug, too?” Before either of the two boys could respond, Geoff had pulled them into a hug that had them all laughing. He gave them one final squeeze before finally letting them go.

Geoff sighed, bringing Gavin closer to him and looking at Michael. “Y’know, Michael, I’d really like to thank you for bringing this kid to life.” He ruffled Gavin’s hair, causing him to laugh again. “Because really, if it wasn’t for you, I don’t know _what_ this kid would be doing.” He looked out at the car again, giving the same bittersweet smile Griffon had.

He held his gaze for a moment before slowly nodding and looking back to Michael. “Well, we’ll see you soon.”

Since Geoff had absolutely refused to let Gavin go, Gavin had to wave and yell goodbye as Michael left the house. He climbed into his own car and had buckled up when both his parents turned around to look at him.

“So, how was your day with Gavin?” his mother asked, smiling back at him.

“We didn’t get to play today since you guys got me early, but it was still fun.” Michael rummaged through his backpack for his folder. He took out Gavin’s gift and showed it to his parents. “Look! He drew it for me.”

His father nodded, turning back around and setting the car into motion. “You’re still keeping that promise, then?”

Michael grinned. “Of course we are! You make a promise and you keep it! You don’t just make a promise and not keep it.” He put the drawing back in his folder and put it away. “Me and Gavin are gonna be married, and Lindsay’s gonna be with us too!”

Michael’s mother laughed. “Michael, do you even know what marriage is?”

Michael looked back at her, confused. “Well, um, you wear those rings. And you live together.”

She smiled, showing her left hand to Michael. “See this ring? Your father has one, too. You’re right about that being a sign of our marriage.” She put her hand down. “But marriage is much more than just living together. It’s a promise.”

Michael nodded. “I can keep a promise!”

She laughed, continuing. “It’s a promise that’s much more difficult to keep than just sitting together and eating lunch every day. It’s a promise to be together forever, through all the good and the bad.”

Michael’s eyebrows furrowed again. “Even if you don’t want to?”

“Oh, no, of course not!” she reassured him. “You go through it because you _do_ want to. You do it because you want to be with that person forever, which is why you say your marriage vows when you get married.” She paused for a moment. “You do it because you love each other, and since you love each other you promise to be together.”

Michael smiled. “So then, love is a promise, too?”

She laughed. “Yes, you could put it that way.”

Michael was silent for a while, thinking about what his mother just told him. It wasn’t until a little longer that he finally spoke up again. “So, what are we doing today?”

Michael’s mother had turned to face the road by then. She didn’t respond and, instead, only frowned.

Michael’s father spoke up. “You’ll see,” was all he said.

“Is it gonna be something fun? Are we going somewhere?” Michael asked, unable to hold in his excitement. “It’s gonna be really fun, right?” He stopped to rethink it before saying, “Well, it won’t be as fun since Gavin’s not here, but it’s still gonna be fun!”

Neither of his parents responded to Michael, leaving him to wonder about what would happen in silence. For a moment he was confused. Leaning to the side to look at his parents’ faces to see if they’d heard him, he asked, “How come you aren’t answering me? Did you hear me?”

Again, no response.

Michael pouted, leaning back into his seat with his arms crossed. Slowly, a grin crept onto his face as he reached a realization. “Oh! I get it, it’s a surprise!”

Frowning, his father peered at his mother for a moment. She returned the look with a subtle shake of her head, silently telling him, _“No, it’s alright. Let him think what he wants for now.”_ His father nodded, turning his attention back to the road.

When they had arrived at Michael’s house, Michael was about to ask why they had gone home, but kept the question to himself. He shook his head, reminding himself that it was a surprise and they wouldn’t answer him anyway. Instead, he hopped out of the car and followed his parents to the door.

When he got inside, he was certainly greeted with a surprise, but not with a kind of surprise he would have expected.

Several large cardboard boxes were in the living room, and a whole stack of folded boxes were on the couch.

Michael dropped his backpack by the couch and looked around the room. He saw clean shelves, clean end tables, and clean walls. He looked in the boxes, and sure enough, everything that was gone was right there in the boxes. Confused, he looked at his parents. “This is the surprise? Why are you putting our stuff away? Are we getting new stuff?”

His parents shared a knowing look, as if deciding who would speak first. Taking in a deep breath, his mother answered, “There’ll definitely be something new.”

Michael looked through the things in the boxes. “But why are you putting _everything_ away? I liked the paintings. And the lamps, too? But how are you gonna see when you read at night? And reading, too! Why are the books gone, too?”

His mother placed a hand on his father’s shoulder. With a nod, she gestured for him to go talk to Michael. His father frowned, but nodded anyway, telling her that he would.

Michael caught the gesture. His eyebrows furrowed, and he asked, “What’s going on? Are you still keeping a secret?”

Michael’s father walked over to Michael and crouched down in front of him. He placed his hand on Michael’s shoulder and sighed. “Michael, um…” He averted his gaze for a moment to think about how he would word his next sentence. “It’s not just going to be new things. We’re not getting rid of any of this stuff, we’re taking–“

He was cut short as Michael’s mother moved in. She crouched down next to his father, speaking for him. “We’re keeping all our things and getting new ones. So we’ll have all our old things, but we’ll have new shelves, new tables, and new walls…” She trailed off, looking back to Michael’s father to continue.

His father sighed, and having no other way to say it, came out with the most basic explanation he could.

“Michael, we’re moving.”

Michael’s mouth dropped open and his eyes widened. His voice was barely a whisper. “What? N-no, we can’t– I can’t–“

“We’re moving this Sunday to New Jersey. Now, I know that’s pretty far from here in Austin. But we really have to move, because of my job.”

Michael gasped, his voice louder this time. “Why do we have to move so far? Why can’t you just work here? You worked here a really long time. Can’t you just keep working here?”

His father shook his head. “I really want to, but we can’t do that. I have to work there. You understand, right? Remember when Mommy started working at a different place? It’s like that, but much, much farther.”

This time, Michael didn’t respond. His thoughts raced through his mind. Worries about himself, worries about Gavin, worries about leaving all his friends and having to make new ones all plagued his mind.

His father waited for a moment before speaking again. “You understand, don’t you, Michael?”

Slowly, Michael shook his head. “No,” he stated.

Michael’s father frowned, although he had expected such a reaction. “But–”

“No!” Michael yelled, pushing his father’s hand off his shoulder. He stepped back, his hands balling into fists. “I’m not moving! I don’t wanna go!”

In an attempt to calm Michael down, his mother reached out for him. “Now, Michael–“

“Don’t touch me!” He yelled, moving farther away from her, avoiding her hand. “I’m not leaving! I like it here! I don’t get why you have to move all the way to wherever. Why can’t you just keep working here?”

His father answered, “Michael, please, you have to understand–“

“I don’t _want_   to understand! And I _don’t_ want to move! I wanna stay here, I wanna stay with my friends, and I wanna stay with Gavin! I ‘specially don’t wanna leave Gavin!” Michael was crying by then, rubbing his eyes as he continued to yell. “I hate you guys! I don’t wanna move and I’m not going with you! I’m gonna stay here with Gavin and all my friends!” With that, he quickly ran out of the room and up the stairs, slamming his room door shut and locking himself in there.

His father stood up and moved to go after Michael, but his mother grabbed his hand to stop him. Confused, he turned to look at her. “I want him to understand why this is necessary, and I want him to know we want to stay as much as he does.”

His mother shook her head. “No, don’t. He’ll be fine. It’s just the shock. He’s a resilient kid; he’s fallen and gotten back up tons of times. He’ll be alright in a little while, and he’ll be fine with moving.”

His father frowned. “He’s crying and just told us he ‘hates us.’ If he’s truly alright with moving, why is he crying?”

His mother paused for a moment to think it over. “Listen, it’s… If it makes sense, well... He’s not crying for himself. He’s crying for Gavin.”

At that, his father dropped his hand. He laughed bitterly. “I guess I should have expected that. I was just shocked myself, since he’s never reacted like that to anything at all.” He stopped for a moment. “He… He really cares about Gavin, doesn’t he?”

Michael’s mother nodded. “Yes. And Gavin really cares about Michael.”

He laughed again and shook his head. “Now I feel bad. How is he going to tell him?”

The same bitter laugh from his mother. “He’ll find a way.”

 

When Michael had first ran into his room, he immediately threw himself onto his bed and continued crying. He kept on crying for a few minutes, still worried about having to eventually leave Gavin. When he had finally calmed down, he lay down on his bed, blankly staring up at the ceiling.

He thought for a while about moving. If he wasn’t really going to miss anything or anyone, he knew he would be able to move with no problem. He wasn’t scared about making friends, and he wasn’t scared of new places. He thought it might actually be fun.

But Gavin.

He rolled onto his stomach thinking about him. He didn’t want to leave Gavin at all. He wanted to stay with him here in Austin. He didn’t want to think about leaving Gavin all alone. He didn’t want to do that to Gavin.

He didn’t want to hurt him.

After what seemed like an eternity of just lying face down on the bed, there was a knock at Michael’s door. Slowly, he got up to unlock the door. He knocked once to tell that the door was unlocked and immediately ran back to the bed.

The door opened slightly and his father peeked inside. “Hey, Michael. You… You okay?”

Michael was lying on his side this time, facing away from his father. He held a pillow close to him. “Yeah. I’m okay.”

His father sighed, moved over to Michael’s bed and sat next to him. He leaned back to look at Michael’s face. “So you’re not mad?”

Michael tightened his grip on the pillow and shook his head. “No. I get it. It’s your job so you gotta do it. I’m not mad, and I’m sorry I said I hate you. I don’t hate you.”

His father smiled. “That’s good. And apology accepted.” His father stopped speaking and sat straight up again. He patted the space next to him. “C’mon, c’mon. Sit up straight next to me. I gotta tell you something.”

Reluctantly, Michael released the pillow and rolled over to look at his father. He sat up and looked up at him. “What else?”

“It’s gonna be bad,” his father admitted, “but Mommy and I think you should be the one to tell Gavin.”

Again with Gavin, and Michael frowned. He looked down at the floor, instead. “ _I_   have to?”

His father nodded. “It has to be you. We already told his parents, and they know. But it’s only you who can tell Gavin.”

Michael thought back to earlier that afternoon when Gavin’s mom and dad were acting strange. “So that’s why they were like that today?”

Again, his father nodded. “Yeah. They were really upset to hear we were moving. But you get it, right? You have to tell Gavin because if it’s coming from you, it’s the only way he’ll understand.”

Michael sighed. “Yeah. I’ll tell him. But he’s gonna be really sad about it.”

His father winced. “I know. But you have the rest of the week to think about it. When do you guys get out of school, Friday? Yeah, Friday. It’s Monday. So you have a day or two to tell him. And you’ll be going home with him every day this week. So… Tell him whenever you’re ready.” He smiled at Michael. “Alright? But just don’t wait ‘til Friday, since he won’t see you Saturday. Give him a day to say goodbye.”

Michael nodded. “Yeah, I guess so. I’ll do it tomorrow so we have extra time to say goodbye and stuff.”

“That’s good.” His father stood up and headed for the door. “Now, why don’t you come downstairs for dinner?”

Michael smiled, and hopped off the bed and followed after him.

 

The next few days were torturous for Michael.

Telling Gavin that he was moving would be harder than he thought it would be. The moment he walked into class the day after he himself was told the news, he was totally resolute in telling Gavin the moment he saw him. But once he’d seen Gavin sitting alone at their table, he was starting to think differently. It only became worse when he saw Gavin’s face light up at seeing Michael coming towards him.

“Hi, Michael!” Gavin greeted him. “What did you do yesterday with your parents? Was it fun?”

Michael stopped in his tracks. He’d totally forgotten that he told Gavin he’d be doing ‘something fun’ with his parents. “I… Yeah, it was fun.”

“But what did you do?”

“Well, uh–“

“Hi guys!” Lindsay skipped into the scene, throwing her backpack onto her chair. Michael let out a deep breath, silently thanking whatever deity that was up there for Lindsay. “Are you guys excited for summer? I am!”

After the time that Lindsay started playing house with them, she soon became close to them as well. It wasn't long until Lindsay would occasionally eat lunch with them, read with them, or even come over to Gavin's house with them.

Gavin gasped. “I’m really _really_ excited! Michael’s gonna be here with us for summer, too! Also,” he turned to Michael, “Michael, we have to do lots of stuff in the summer! We can start the last day of school, since you _and_  Lindsay will be at my house. You’re gonna come over lots in the summer, right?”

Michael nodded, not knowing what else to do. “Um, sure.”

Gavin looked at Michael confused. “Michael,” he wondered, “is something wrong? You don’t look happy.”

Michael’s eyes widened. “N-No, I’m fine, Gavin.”

“You don’t look fine,” Lindsay cut in. “Are you hiding something? Cuz I get like that when I’m hiding a secret. My mommy says she can tell when I’m lying cuz I act like that.”

“I’m not hiding anything!” Michael whined.

Lindsay shrugged. “If you say so.”

Michael ended up not telling Gavin that day. Or the next day, since he really did _try_ to tell Gavin, but each time he tried he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Before he knew it, it was Thursday. And he had no choice but to tell him then.

Michael was dreading it the whole day. He was continuously spacing out, thinking about how Gavin would react. He spoke to neither Lindsay nor Gavin the entire day. The two tried confronting him about it, but Michael simply responded by making something up, like he was only tired and didn't feel like doing anything.

At the end of the day, Michael was resolute on telling Gavin under their special tree. It was then or never.

While Michael and Gavin were getting ready to leave, Gavin tapped Michael on the shoulder. “I know why you’re not talking to me today, and I know there’s something wrong.”

Michael froze, but didn’t dare look up at Gavin because he might have given something away.

“I think Lindsay’s right. You’re hiding something. So instead of playing some games today, let’s spend some time under the tree, okay?” Gavin paused to pull his backpack on. “Now, let’s go. Mr. Ramsey is probably waiting outside.” With that, Gavin left Michael to himself.

Michael sighed when Gavin was out the door. He didn’t know how he was going to tell him, but he knew he had to. Reluctantly, he pulled his backpack on and followed after Gavin.

Gavin was already waiting in the car, Michael had assumed, since Geoff was standing by the car alone. He smiled at Michael, but Michael didn’t have the strength to return it. Instead, he nodded, and Geoff moved out of the way so that Michael could climb into the car.

The car ride was mostly silent, other than a few questions like, “How was school?” which were answered with halfhearted, ‘good’s or ‘okay’s.  Michael didn’t look in Gavin’s direction at all, and Gavin didn’t question it. He would wait until they were under the tree to ask anything.

When Geoff pulled into the driveway, Gavin immediately hopped out and raced for the backyard. Michael lingered a little while, toying with the seatbelt before finally loosening it. When he looked up, Geoff was looking back at him.

“So, you’re gonna tell him today, aren’t you?” Geoff asked.

Michael shook his head. “I really don’t want to.”

“You’ll have to tell him eventually. Tell him today, that way you can have a full day to spend together tomorrow and say goodbye,” Geoff suggested, shrugging.

Michael frowned. “I… I guess so.”

There was a moment of silence between them before Geoff spoke up again. He exhaled deeply, saying, “You’ll figure out a way to tell him. You got this, bud.” With that, Geoff left the car, and Michael took that as his cue to leave as well.

Michael headed into the backyard to find Gavin, and, sure enough, he was seated beneath the lemon tree. Michael trudged over to him, and plopped himself down next to Gavin. He didn’t say a word.

“Are you gonna talk now?” Gavin asked. “If you don’t wanna, I’ll wait for you to be ready to talk. We can just sit here or something.”

Michael nodded.

“Um… and are your parents gonna get you early again? They get you early a lot now.”

Again, Michael nodded.

“Oh… Okay. So we can spend our time here.”

For a long, long while the two were quiet. They leaned against each other, enjoying each other’s presence. Gavin looked up at the sky through the leaves while Michael kept his gaze on the ground. There was not a word from either of them, and instead the only sounds they heard were the sounds of nature; the wind blowing through the tree’s leaves and the birds in the air. Those sounds were soon joined by the calm sound of the boys’ light breathing, as they had both fallen asleep in the shade of their tree.

The two woke with a jolt when Geoff had called from the back door that Michael’s parents would be there in a little while. Gavin had called back that they’d heard him, and Geoff disappeared into the house again.

Gavin yawned, and Michael rubbed his eyes. Michael stretched and leaned back against the tree. Gavin watched him, and asked again, “So, will you tell me?”

Michael sighed, pulling his knees up and hugging them. “Maybe.”

Gavin smiled, happy to at least have made progress. “Will it help if I tell you some of _my_   secrets?”

Michael looked at Gavin, confused.

“I mean it!” Gavin confirmed. “See, I’ll tell you mine, and then you can tell me yours. And we can keep each other’s secrets. Like… Well… I didn’t do my homework one time so I lied to the teacher and said I lost it.”

Michael laughed. “That’s not a secret, though. I _know_ you did that.”

“Still! I didn’t tell anyone but you,” Gavin retorted. “I don’t have a lot of secrets, okay? And, um… One time, well, lots of times, we buy cookies. And I really like cookies! So I eat lots of them sometimes, and I always finish them. And Mr. Ramsey doesn’t get it, because the cookies are _always_ gone, and he asks me if I know what happened, and I always lie and say I don’t know.”

“I do that, too!” Michael laughed. “Sometimes I break things and my parents ask me what happened and I just say I don’t know.”

Gavin nodded. “And with homework again. Sometimes when I wanna play video games and you’re not here, I lie and say that I did my homework already and then play all I want. Then when Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey think I’m sleeping I do my homework.”

Michael gasped. “But don’t you get tired if you do that?”

Gavin shook his head. “Nah. It’s really easy homework and it doesn’t take long. One time Mr. Ramsey almost caught me, though! I had the light on and he came in, so I threw my stuff under my pillow and I told him I just couldn’t sleep.”

“Did he believe you?” Michael asked.

“Yeah. But he told me I should turn the light off and try to close my eyes and sleep. And that was the same day that I told the teacher that I lost my homework so I didn’t do it.”

Michael snickered. “Gavin, these are all baby lies. What’s the worst secret you have?”

Gavin frowned. “That’s probably… Um, I lied one time. Or two times. Or lots of times. And I told the same lie every time.”

“What was it?”

“I told Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey I was sick and didn’t wanna go to school. But I wasn’t really sick, I just really _really_ didn’t wanna go. But that was before you came here. Because before you came here, the bullies were really mean to me, and sometimes it would be really bad and I would be really _really_ sad and I wouldn’t wanna go and see them.”

Gavin brought up his knees and hugged them, leaning his head on his arm. “Cuz most of the time they would just make fun of me or something. But other times they hit me, and I didn’t want that to happen so I got scared and so I lied.” He stopped speaking for a moment, grimacing as he remembered the past. He then looked back up at Michael and smiled. “But not anymore! Because I have you, and it doesn’t happen now.”

Michael nodded, averting his gaze from Gavin’s, and suddenly found the grass more interesting. He still had to tell Gavin, and his time was running out. He couldn’t wait until the next day, since he’d be leaving Gavin without a chance to properly say goodbye.

But he didn’t want to hurt Gavin. He knew that when he left for New Jersey, Gavin would be alone. Sure, he would have Lindsay, but he wouldn’t have him. And the possibility that the bullies might start bullying Gavin again sickened and worried him so much.

Still, he didn’t have a choice but to tell him.

Gathering up all the strength he had, he finally turned back to Gavin and opened his mouth to tell him. Gavin, however, cut him short by speaking over him. “Hey, Michael? You wanna hear the _biggest_ secret I’m keeping?”

Michael looked at the grin on Gavin’s face and sighed. He could wait another moment. “Yeah, sure.”

Gavin’s grin widened. “So, I really want a dog!”

Michael looked at Gavin in confusion. “A dog?”

“Yeah!” Gavin confirmed. “Because, when I still lived with my parents, my neighbors had a dog. And I saw them walk their dog every day, and sometimes I could pet him! And I asked my parents, but they told me no, since it was really hard to take care of a dog. But now, I live with Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey, so I wanna ask them!”

“So why don’t you ask–“

Out of the corner of his eye, Michael saw his parent’s car drive in. He gasped, knowing that he was out of time and that he needed to tell Gavin, whether he wanted to or not.

“Well, I will ask!” Gavin was still rambling on about his special secret. “But I’m gonna be really good.”

“Gavin?” Michael tried cutting in.

It seemed like Gavin didn’t hear him, as Gavin just kept talking. “Because if I’m really good, then when I ask, they won’t really have a reason to say no, right?”

“Gavin,” Michael tried again. He could hear the car’s horn from the front.

Still, his attempt was in vain. “And if they say it’s gonna be hard to take care of a dog, I can just tell them, ‘Well I’m gonna take good care of it! Because I was really good lately, so I can keep being good!’ Isn’t that a good pla–“

“Gavin!” Michael yelled. “Gavin, listen!”

Gavin laughed, finally listening to him. “What, Michael? What’s wrong?”

Michael heard the car horn sound again, and he took in a deep breath. “Gavin, um… I’m moving on Sunday.”

Gavin grinned. “Wait, so you’re moving close to me? Michael, that’s great! Then we can–“

“No, Gavin, no, I’m not moving closer. I’m, um… I’m moving really far. So I won’t be here anymore.”

Gavin’s face dropped, twisted into an expression of grief and pain.

Michael frowned, although he expected such a reaction. “But it’s not like I wanna go! I wanna stay, stay here with you! But I can’t, cuz my dad has to work and stuff. So we have to move. It’s not that I wanna leave you, I don’t wanna leave at all! But… But, I just… I can’t stay.”

After letting that all out, Michael exhaled deeply, looking at Gavin and hoping for a response. Gavin said nothing.

The car horn honked again, and Michael sighed. Still, he waited for Gavin to reply.

Gavin was looking down at the ground, not speaking, not moving. His expression told Michael that he was much more hurt than Michael had expected. Gavin had been sitting cross-legged, his hands balled into fists in his lap.

When the car horn honked again, Michael was ready to give up and just leave Gavin to himself. As Michael was about to grab his backpack, Gavin spoke up.

“But… You promised.”

Michael froze in place. He’d never thought about that promise. Sure, he knew he’d eventually break their routine, but he never thought about breaking their promise to be together forever.

“Michael… You promised me that you would never ever leave. But you broke your promise.”

Michael couldn’t respond. Instead, he grabbed his backpack and rushed for the gate, leaving Gavin by himself.

As soon as he was seated in the car, he buckled his seat belt and didn’t dare look back at Gavin’s house. His father got the message and had already set the car into motion. His mother glanced back at him, but she didn’t have to ask to know.

Michael spent the rest of his day locked in his room, and didn’t answer the door for either of his parents.

Gavin left the backyard and didn’t go back, spending the rest of his day crying and being consoled by his parents.

And neither of the two boys could sleep well that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and now you know why this is my favorite chapter
> 
> also so yes we are indeed aiming for updates on mondays but we don't know how that will work out?? so it's best for now to say that just in the general weekend area??
> 
> this chapter man that's all i can say rn


	3. New Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omG YES YES THIS IS SO SUPER LATE AND I AM SO SORRY I NEVER MEANT TO TAKE THIS LONG BUT IT WAS LIKE
> 
> problem after problem after problem for me
> 
> bUT we finally got this out!!! enjoy chapter 3
> 
> i promise you all that you'll get a bonus chapter aND chapter 4 within the next twoish weeks i PROMISE

Michael leaned back into the car seat, his arms folded, blankly staring out the window. He watched the warm, summer scenery pass by, sighing as he realized how much closer they were getting to the school.

  
  
It wasn’t that Michal didn’t want to see Gavin. In fact, that was really the only thing he wanted at this point; to see Gavin, and stay in Austin with him. It was more that he didn’t want to know how Gavin would treat him. Would Gavin be upset? Would he be angry? Or would he ignore Michael the whole day?

 

His father glanced at him in the rearview mirror, sensing the boy’s distress. “You okay, Michael?”

  
Still staring out the window, Michael shook his head.

  
His father pressed his lips together, forming a thin line. “Listen, Michael,” he started, trying to find a way to word his sentences without hurting him, “I know… I know it was hard for you to tell him.”

  
Michael nodded.

  
“And… I know you didn’t say much after you told him. So you’re feeling pretty bad about leaving without giving him time to really react, aren’t you?”

  
Again, he nodded.

  
His father nodded his head in return. “But, Michael, if you avoid him all day today, what will happen? Are you just going to leave on such a bad note? Do you want to leave him with such a negative view of you?”

  
Michael stopped looking out the window, dropping his gaze to the car floor, wringing his hands.

  
There was a short silence before Michael’s father spoke up again. “Listen, you’re going home with him again today. And Lindsay’s going too, isn’t she? If he’s upset, he’s upset. There’s only so much you can do to lift his spirits. It probably really hurts him to lose you so quickly.”

  
No response.

  
“But Michael,” his father said sternly, “you might not be able to do much, but it’s what you can do that counts. So do what you can, kid. It’ll be okay.”

  
The car came to a stop at the sidewalk in front of the school. Michael’s father turned around to face Michael, who was still focused on the floor.

  
“It’s gonna be okay, Michael. Trust me. Now, it’s time for you to go.”

  
Michael nodded one last time. “I… I don’t want Gavin to be mad at me, but if I don’t say I’m sorry, he’s gonna be mad at me forever. So… I’m gonna do what I can to make him feel better.”

  
His father smiled. “There you go! Now c’mon, you’re gonna be late. And I will, too!”

  
Michael hopped out of the car and walked along the sidewalk slowly towards the school, lingering by the front entrance before finally deciding on going inside. He’d been nervous about facing Gavin all night _and_ all morning, tossing, turning, and barely getting any sleep, as well as having no interest in his breakfast whatsoever. Having no idea of how Gavin would greet him when he walked in wasn’t helping his nerves much at all.

  
Michael pushed open the heavy door and headed for their table. What he saw, however, was that Lindsay had taken his place.

  
Gavin was idly coloring, just as he was the first day they’d met. Lindsay sat in Michael’s usual seat, whispering to Gavin about something Michael couldn’t hear.

Gavin nodded occasionally as Lindsay continued speaking, wearing an expression gloomier than Michael had ever seen before. Quite a contrast to the usual bright, smiling face Michael was used to seeing every morning.

  
As soon as Lindsay noticed Michael walk up to the table, she moved away from Gavin and stood up, frowning at Michael. She crossed her arms. “You hurt Gavin!” she accused, poking Michael’s chest.

  
Michael wanted to be angry, but he knew she was right, even if he never meant to hurt Gavin. Instead, he pushed her hand away, replying, “I didn’t _mean_ to hurt him.”

  
Lindsay shook her head. “But you still hurt him, so it counts! Why’d you do that? Gavin didn’t do anything to hurt _you_! He even made you a gift. Why’d you have to go and do that?”

  
At this, Michael really did get angry. “No! You don’t get it, I–” He paused, glancing at Gavin, who was staring at the two others argue. When he noticed Michael was looking right back at him, he quickly returned his attention to his coloring.

  
Michael sighed, grabbing Lindsay’s arm. She tried to jerk her arm away in protest, but Michael wouldn’t let go, dragging her to the other corner of the room. “We’re gonna talk over there!”

  
“What if I don’t wanna talk?” Lindsay asked, trying to pry Michael’s hand off her arm. “What if I don’t wanna talk to you _at all_?”

  
When they had reached the corner of the room, Michael finally released her. “What did Gavin tell you?”

  
“You should know,” Lindsay said, angrily. “You’re the one who made him cry.”

  
Michael winced, hurt to know that, even though he expected it. Still, he nodded. “Yeah, I know what I did, but do you know?”

  
“Of course I know! Gavin told me you broke a promise.” She shook her head. “I knew there was something up with you! You were gonna break that promise! Now you’re gonna leave him all alone and he’ll have to make all new friends! Well guess what, I don’t wanna be your friend either, then!”

  
“No, you don’t get it!” Michael shouted. “I didn’t break that promise because I wanted to.”

  
Lindsay squinted her eyes, looking at Michael, confused. “What do you mean? Then why would you break it? Did you just wanna make Gavin cry or something? If that’s what you wanted, you’re meaner than I thought you were.”

  
Michael shook his head frantically. “No, no way! I would never wanna hurt Gavin! And I never wanted to break the promise.” Michael exhaled deeply, looking away. “My dad got a new job or something. And it’s really far away, in New Jersey. So we have to move there. Which means I have to leave you guys, and since I’m leaving, I broke our promise.”

  
Lindsay frowned, but this time, it was out of sadness rather than anger. There was a long pause between them, until Lindsay spoke up again. “So… you really are leaving us? And we can’t do anything to stop it?”

  
Michael nodded. “I didn’t mean to. When my dad told me that we were gonna move, I got really mad. But we can’t do anything about it, and that’s what you gotta understand. I’d never _ever_ want to leave you guys, but it’s something that I can’t stop.”

  
Lindsay opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it and shook her head. She frowned, looking at the floor. “Sorry I got so mad at you. I thought you were gonna stay here, but you were gonna leave Gavin all alone and make friends with the other boys! That’s why I was super mad at you.”

  
“It’s okay, I would be mad at you like that, too, if Gavin told me you broke a promise with him.” Michael glanced back at Gavin, sighing in relief when he saw that Gavin wasn’t paying attention to them. 

  
“So you’re really gonna move, then?” Lindsay asked, causing Michael to look back at her. “When… When are you leaving?”

  
“Sunday. But we’re gonna leave in the morning, so it’s gonna take all Saturday to pack.”

  
Lindsay’s expression grew more and more upset. “Really? So this is the last day we’re gonna see you? The last day we’ll ever be together…”

  
Michael nodded sadly. “Yeah. It’s really far away. I don’t wanna leave.”

  
Lindsay pulled Michael into a tight hug, starting to cry. “Me too. But if I’m this sad, I bet Gavin _really_ doesn’t want you to go.”

  
When Michael finally got Lindsay to let go of him, he glanced back at Gavin, who had finished coloring and was blankly staring out into space. “Lindsay, don’t say anything to Gavin.”

  
Lindsay rubbed the tears out of her eyes, trying to dry them quickly. “Why not? I thought you didn’t want him to be mad at you.”

  
“But I want him not to be mad because of me. Not because of you. If you’re the one who says anything then he’ll probably think that I just told you to say that. So, um, pretend you’re still mad at me or something, okay? But like, not too mad.”

  
Lindsay saluted him, sniffling. “Gotcha! I won’t say a word to him about this!” She then dropped her hand, and, confused, she asked, “Wait, what do I tell him, then? Do I say some more bad stuff about you?”

  
“I don’t know, it doesn’t matter! Just don’t tell him anything ‘bout me moving, maybe.”

  
“Okay!” Lindsay grinned at him before she turned around and the grin disappeared. She took a deep breath, put on a pouty face, and stomped away from Michael.

Michael waited back in the corner for Lindsay to get back to Gavin. When she did, she sat next to him, but faced the other direction. Gavin–who had gotten a blank sheet of paper to draw something new on–asked her something, but she shook her head.

  
When Michael thought it was safe for him to come back over, Lindsay scooted a bit away from Gavin. Michael sat in the chair opposite Gavin. “Hi, Gavin,” he said.  
Gavin looked up, shut his mouth tight, and looked back down.

  
“Are you mad at me?”

  
Gavin froze, looked up at Michael without moving his head for a moment, and seemed to lower himself closer to the table as he continued drawing again.

  
“Are you sad?”

  
At that, Gavin took his drawing, got up, and headed for the teacher. Lindsay, who had her eyes and mouth closed the whole time, opened one eye just in time to see Gavin walk away. At that, she sighed and let her crossed arms fall to her sides. She turned around to face Michael. “I bet he’s _really_ sad now.”

  
Michael pouted. “I don’t know what to do!” he whined, dramatically throwing his hands in the air in frustration. “My dad said I gotta make him happy. Or try to. But if he won’t talk to me, how am I ‘sposed to do anything?”

  
“I don’t know. What happened when Gavin got mad at you before?” Lindsay asked.  
Michael shrugged. “He never gets really mad. When he’s mad, it doesn’t last so long. So I really don’t get what I’m ‘sposed to do.”

  
“Umm…” Lindsay looked up at the ceiling. She cupped her face in her hands while she leaned on her elbows on the table. “Maybe Gavin will get over it?”

  
“No way! He’s super mad at me, he’s not gonna be over it in one day.”

  
Lindsay sighed, letting go of her face and dropping her hands onto the table. “Then maybe just keep talking to him the whole day? Like, um, just keep talking to him or something and he won’t be so mad. Maybe if you pretend like it’s not a big deal, _he_ won’t think it’s a big deal either?”

  
“What if he still doesn’t talk to me?”

  
“Then you make sure you say stuff that he can’t _not_ talk to you about!” Lindsay pointed out.

  
“Like what? What’s so super duper important that he can’t ignore it?” Michael asked.

  
“That’s up to _you_ to find out!” Lindsay said, leaning back in her seat. “Cuz like, I’m you guys’ friend and all, but I dunno all your secrets! Only you know ‘em, so it’s up to you.”

  
“Fine,” Michael sighed. “Maybe there’s some stuff I _can_ do. But I still don’t really know where to start–”

  
Lindsay shushed him, and as Michael was about to ask why she did so, Gavin sat back down at their table. Lindsay made a gesture of zipping her lips, and she turned away from the two of them again.

  
“Gavin?” Michael tried again.

  
Gavin continued his drawing when he sat down, but this time, he didn’t look up at Michael at all. There was no response.

  
Michael let out a heavy sigh. Getting Gavin to talk to him would be harder than he thought it would be.

 

  
  
The next few hours had proved to be just as Michael expected them to be. Gavin still did everything they always did, but he barely said a word to Michael.

  
They still sat together through lessons, ate lunch together, napped together, and read together. It was just extremely boring for Michael, and it also made him a little nervous that he would never be able to really explain the situation to Gavin.

  
Throughout the day, Michael tried to speak to Gavin countless times. He’d bring up things that happened in the past, things that happened that day, and, although they were few, things that might have happened in the future. He corrected Gavin’s work while Gavin corrected his and dropped a few conversation starters here and there. He read with Gavin and tried bringing up topics that could somehow be connected to what they were reading.

  
He tried everything he could do, and yet, Gavin wouldn’t respond with more than a simple sentence to anything Michael said.

  
At the end of the day, Gavin was still drawing alone at the table. Lindsay scooted over to Michael in her seat and nudged him in the side with her elbow. Michael looked at her, tired and frustrated.

  
Lindsay had to keep herself from laughing at Michael’s frustration, covering her mouth with her hands as a few giggles escaped. “Did ya do it?” she whispered.  
Michael shook his head.

  
Lindsay puffed up her cheeks. “Well this is your last chance! You gotta do something!” she whispered. She jumped out of her seat, placed her hands on her hips, and said, “C’mon, Gavin!”

  
Gavin jumped out of surprise. He looked up at Lindsay, blinking a few times.

  
“It’s the end of the day!” Lindsay pointed out. “So we gotta play house, like we always do!”

  
Gavin nodded, picked up his drawings, and headed for their playhouse alone.  
Michael and Lindsay watched him walk off. Lindsay grabbed Michael’s arm, catching his attention. “Last chance!” she warned again, and she ran off after Gavin.

  
When Michael had reached the playhouse, Lindsay was already on the floor playing with her dolls. Gavin was on the floor in front of her, but faced towards the wall, still drawing.

  
Michael waited by the door for either one to look up at him and notice. When he had grown too impatient of waiting, he tapped on Gavin’s shoulder.

  
Gavin jumped, leaning forward to cover his work. He turned to look at Michael, trying his best to shield his work from his view.

  
Startled by Gavin’s reaction, Michael stuttered, “Um, I’m gonna… gonna work now.”

  
Gavin sighed. “Oh, okay.”

  
Michael left the playhouse without saying anything else. He went through the back door of the school to the playground in the back. Usually, it was his job to pick flowers for both Gavin and Lindsay. Gavin would keep them in the window of the playhouse, and replace the dead flowers with the new, fresh ones that Michael would pick for him. Lindsay would take the flowers and create crowns or rings to trade with the other kids for snacks or for extra credit points.

  
This time, however, he didn’t pick any flowers. He sat in the grass, surrounded by flowers, thinking about what else he could try to do to cheer Gavin up. He had tried everything he could think of, but as Lindsay said, this was his last chance to do anything. And if he wanted Gavin not to be mad with him forever, he had to do something special.

  
Michael lay on his back, stretched out in the sun as he continued to think. He had realized by then that simple conversation wouldn’t help, and anything that implied Gavin would never see Michael again after he moved was completely out of the question. He had to think of something that was important, but nothing that would scare Gavin. Nothing like, “Hey, if you don’t talk to me today, we’ll never speak again!” It had to be something positive.

  
Michael rolled onto his side, thinking of what he could even do. He thought about what his parents told him he should do when he and Gavin fought in the past.

  
_“Well,” his mother would say, “what even happened in the first place? You can’t fix something when you don’t know what to fix.”_

  
Michael hummed, toying with the grass between his fingers. What exactly _did_ he do? It wasn’t really _his_ fault they were moving. But Gavin seemed to think so.

  
Then again, whether he wanted to or not, he did break his promise with Gavin to stay with him forever.

  
Michael pulled himself up instantly, realizing what the problem was. He had broken his promise. That had to be what was really bugging Gavin. After all, the only thing Gavin said before he left yesterday was that “Michael promised.” But he broke it.

  
He sighed, flopping back down into the grass. But how would he even fix that? The promise was broken, and there was nothing he could do about that. It wasn’t like he could just go back in time to when it wasn’t broken. And even if he did, he’d break it again eventually. His family would have to move _some_ time. So the promise was broken, and he couldn’t do anything to magically make it better.

  
Unless… they made a _new_ promise.

  
Michael jumped to his feet, but not before picking a handful of flowers. It was the perfect idea! And he knew exactly what kind of promise they could make. 

  
_“It’s a promise that’s much more difficult to keep than just sitting together and eating lunch every day. It’s a promise to be together forever, through all the good and the bad.”_

  
Michael thought back to the previous day when his mother told him all about marriage. He tried recreating the flower rings that Lindsay had made for them so many months ago as he thought over his plan.

  
If he and Gavin couldn’t be together forever right now, then it wouldn’t be so bad to promise that they would see each other again, and then they’d be together forever, right?

  
Michael grinned, nodding to himself as he tied a knot in the flowers’ stems. He gathered the rest of the flowers into a bunch and darted back into the school. He pushed open the back door, and didn’t stop until he reached the playhouse. When he did, he shoved the house’s door open, panting as he tried to catch his breath.

  
Startled, Gavin jumped from the same spot he was sitting in when Michael left. He gathered his art into a small pile before looking behind his shoulder at Michael questioningly. Lindsay also looked up from her spot, eyebrows raised.

  
Gavin stared at Michael nervously. Still seated, he fully turned around to face Michael. Cautiously, he asked, “What made you run all the way over here?”

  
Still trying to catch his breath, Michael bent down and reached for Gavin’s hand. “Gavin, gimme your hand,” he ordered.

  
Reluctant to do so, but also scared about what Michael would do if he didn’t, put his hand in Michael’s. Michael took his hand and put the flower ring he had just made on Gavin’s ring finger. When Michael let go, Gavin looked at the ring. “What’s thi–”

  
Michael shushed him, showing the matching ring on his own finger. “Do you know what these mean?”

  
Gavin’s eyebrows furrowed as he continued to look at Michael for an explanation. “It means you’re married?” he more asked than stated.

  
“But do you know what _that_ means?”

  
“When you’re married?”

  
“Yeah, do you?”

  
Gavin’s gaze dropped to his lap. He toyed with the ring on his finger as he replied, “Not really. No one really told me.”

  
Michael sat down in front of Gavin. “I didn’t know, too. But then my mom told me about it. I used to think it was just when you lived together and had a baby and stuff.”

  
“So then that’s not what it is?” Gavin wondered.

  
“Um, she said it kinda was. But it’s more than just that.”

  
“Then what is it?” Lindsay piped up from her corner of the house. She had the bunch of flowers that Michael picked in her hands, and she seemed to be making another crown.

  
“It’s a promise, just like the one me and Gavin– um, well, had, I guess.” Michael glanced over at Gavin, who was still staring down at his lap. Worried that he had upset Gavin, he continued on. “No, but, it’s just like the one we had! It’s a promise to stay together forever, and love each other forever!”

  
Gavin sighed, moving to take the ring off. “But you’re leaving me. You can’t keep that promise.”

  
“No! No, that’s just it! Since I can’t keep that promise, we’ll make one just like it, but change it so it works!” Michael exclaimed, placing his hands over Gavin’s to stop him from removing the ring.

  
Gavin looked up at Michael, confused. “Like how?” he asked, skeptically.

  
Michael grinned, removing his hands. “So, my mom told me marriage is a promise to stay together and love each other, right?”

  
“Yeah,” Lindsay confirmed. “You said that like three times.”

  
“Okay, but I’m moving away. So instead of making it a promise to stay together forever right now, let’s make it a promise to meet again, and _then_ we’ll be together forever!” Michael suggested.

  
“So what do you mean?” Gavin asked.

  
“Let’s get married!” Michael said. “But since I’m moving, I’m gonna come back one day! And when I do, we’re gonna be together forever. And I won’t ever break that promise!”

  
“Really?” Gavin asked, interest rising.

  
Michael nodded. “Yeah! Never ever. I swear on my life! You, me, and Lindsay, we’ll all be together!”

  
Gavin giggled, and Michael sighed in relief to finally hear him happy again. “You better not.”

  
Michael shook his head, placing his hands on Gavin’s shoulders. “No way! I know I broke the other one, and I’m super duper sorry about it. I didn’t mean to break it. But my dad got a new job so we gotta. But this time, I promise, I will never break it.”

  
Gavin took in a deep breath, wrapping his arms around Michael as he scooted closer. “Yeah. Don’t break it. Please don’t ever break it.”

  
Michael was about to ask why Gavin had suddenly hugged him, but as soon as he heard Gavin sniffling, he knew. Gavin’s resolve had finally broken, and Michael was glad he could be there to comfort him. Michael hugged him tighter, saying, “I know, Gavin, I know. And I won’t. I’m sorry I ever broke it in the first place.”

  
Gavin shook his head. “No… I was just super upset. You don’t have to be sorry. I know you don’t wanna go, and I know you wanna stay here. But you can’t, and it’s not your fault. I was just mad because you were gonna leave me. And… And I didn’t want you to go.” He exhaled deeply. “I’m sorry I was mad and didn’t talk the whole day.”

  
“Don’t be,” Michael said. “You were sad, and you were mad at me. It’s okay, as long as you’re not mad anymore.”

  
Lindsay rose from her spot, coming over to the boys and wrapping her arms around both of them. “Super duper big hug time!” she exclaimed, laughing. She squeezed them tighter, asking, “So, are you guys still mad, or are we all best friends again?”

  
Michael tried to wiggle out of her grip, smiling. “It depends! Gavin, will–” He suddenly gasped, covering his mouth with his hands. “Wait, no, I have to do this the right way.”

  
“What do you mean?” Gavin asked, wiping his eyes.

  
“No, hold on, I know how this goes, I saw it in a movie one time.” Michael stood up, looking around, trying to remember how the proposal went. “Um, wait, no, I think Gavin needs to stand?”

  
Gavin stood up in his spot. “Like this?”

  
Michael nodded. “Yeah, yeah, and…” He pointed to Gavin’s hand. “I need the ring for a second.”

  
“Okay,” Gavin complied, taking the ring off his finger and handing it to Michael.  
Michael took Gavin’s ring and removed his own. “Um, and I think… I think I have to kneel.” He dropped to his knees, looking up at Gavin. “Lindsay, hold this for me?” he asked, handing the ring to Lindsay.

  
Lindsay took the ring, nodding. “It’s in safe hands!”

  
Michael laughed, holding Gavin’s ring in his hands. “Oh, but I don’t have a box for it. So, um, pretend my hands are the box or something.” He opened his hands, showing Gavin the ring. “So, um, Gavin–” Michael gasped, “Oh, no…”

  
Gavin looked down at him, confused. “What’s wrong?”

  
Michael laughed. “Um… What’s your last name again? But your _real_ last name, not Ramsey. Like, before, when you lived in England.”

  
“Oh.” Gavin hummed, thinking back on it. “Free.”

  
“Gavin Free?” Michael asked, testing the name on his tongue.

  
“Yeah. My whole name is Gavin David Free, if you want to know,” Gavin confirmed.

  
“It’s a pretty name,” Michael laughed. “But I bet that Gavin David Jones will sound even better.”

  
Gavin’s face flushed red. “Michael!” he exclaimed, covering his face with his hands. “Just ask me already!"

  
Michael giggled at Gavin’s reaction. “Fine, fine!” Michael relented, trying to calm down. “Gavin David Free, he started, opening his hands to show Gavin the ring held inside, “Will you marry me?”

  
Gavin froze for a moment before leaning over to Lindsay, who was standing next to him. “Um…” he whispered, “what do I say?”

  
Lindsay started laughing. “Duh! You say yes!” She shoved him lightly forward, causing Gavin to stumble a bit, but he caught himself by grabbing hold of Michael’s shoulders.

  
“Um, yes, Michael,” Gavin started, looking away as his face colored again. “I’ll marry you.” He looked back at Michael and smiled. “Yeah, definitely. I’ll marry you!”

  
Michael grinned right back at him. “Then we’re gonna get married today!” Gavin let go of Michael’s shoulders and stood up straight. Michael took Gavin’s hand and slipped the ring onto his ring finger.

  
Lindsay helped to pull Michael to his feet and gave him his ring. “I call being that guy who says you’re married! What’s he called again?”

  
“Well duh you’re gonna be that guy! Who else would it be if it wasn’t you?” Michael laughed. “Um, and I think he’s called the quiche?”

  
Gavin doubled over laughing, holding his stomach as he did so. “Michael! A quiche is a food! That guy’s called the priest!”

  
Michael started laughing with him. “Hey! They sound the same, don’t they?” Michael pointed out.

  
“Yeah, but a priest isn’t food!”

  
Lindsay shrugged, even though she was laughing along with them. “He _eats_ food.”

   
“But he’s _not_ food!” Gavin exclaimed. “You can’t eat the priest! You can’t eat _anyone_!”

  
“I bet he won’t taste good anyway,” Lindsay said.

  
At this point, the three of them were laughing so hard they could barely breathe. Michael tried to calm himself down, taking in deep breaths as he tried to say, “But where are we gonna get married? Here? Right now?”

  
“No way! Let’s do it at Gavin’s house,” Lindsay suggested, turning to Gavin. “Your backyard is super pretty, and the tree has lots of little white flowers that I can use to make some crowns and rings!”

  
Gavin gasped. “Really? You’re gonna make us crowns _and_ rings?”

  
“Yeah!” Lindsay nodded. “They’re gonna be super special, just for you guys!” She grinned, clapping her hands together. “I’ll make them really pretty, and you’re gonna love them! They’re gonna be way better than the ones I usually make, I promise!”

  
Michael laughed. “I bet they will! Oh, and we’re gonna need–“

  
“Alright kids!” The teacher’s voice rang out. “Time to clean up and pack up!”

  
Lindsay sighed. “I just wanna keep talking about this though. I don’t wanna clean up yet.”

  
Gavin giggled. “But Lindsay, the faster we clean up, the faster we can get home and get married!”

  
“Yeah!” Michael agreed. He looked at Gavin, a plotting smile on his face. “Hey, _Gavinnn_ ,” Michael drawled out in a teasing tone.

  
Gavin giggled, and Michael smiled, happy that he could hear the sound of his laughter again. “What is it, Michael?”

  
“Race you!” Michael shouted, throwing the playhouse’s door open, and rushing out to their table. He looked behind him to see Gavin running after him, struggling to catch up to Michael.

  
Michael grabbed his chair and pulled it out, lifting his backpack and placing it on the seat. Quickly, he unzipped it and grabbed his books and papers, throwing them into his backpack. Every few seconds he would glance up at Gavin, only to see that he was currently doing the same, frantically throwing his belongings into his backpack.

  
Lindsay bounded up to the table, throwing her backpack onto her seat and packing up her things. “Geez, guys! Thanks for leaving me to clean everything up alone!”   
Michael snickered, pausing to look up at her. “We were gonna come back for you, promise! But we were having a race! You can’t just stop in the middle of a race, because–”

  
“Ha!” Gavin exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. “I’m done! I finished first! I win, Michael, I win!”

  
“Because that happens,” Michael finished, laughing. He put the last of his things away and zipped up his backpack. “And I was super close, too!”

  
“Close doesn’t mean you win!” Gavin pointed out. He pulled on his backpack and walked around the table to Michael and Lindsay’s side. “And Michael, what were you gonna say before clean up time?”

  
Michael’s eyebrows furrowed as he pulled on his backpack as well. “What do you mean?”

  
Lindsay nodded, finishing up her packing. “Yeah, you were saying something right before the teacher called clean up. What was it?”

  
Michael hummed, trying to remember what he was going to say. “Um… Oh! Yeah, I was gonna say, since we’re getting married, we’re gonna need to get dressed all pretty like they usually do.”

  
“But who wears what?” Gavin asked. “Do we both wear the same thing, or do we wear different things, or what?”

  
“I think Gavin should wear the dress!” Lindsay exclaimed. “Since Michael asked and all. But Michael has to wear the thing that goes on the mommy’s head, so it’s fair. But you’re both gonna wear flower crowns, and that’s that!”

  
Gavin frowned. “But I don’t have any dresses. What am I gonna do?”

  
“I’ll help you!” Lindsay grinned. “Maybe your mommy has some dresses that are small so you can wear them? And if not, you can probably just wrap a blanket around you and it’ll look like a dress!”

  
“And me? What do I do?” Michael asked.

  
“Maybe Mr. Ramsey will let you wear his things!” Gavin suggested.

  
“Why’s Michael wearing my stuff?”

  
The three gasped, turning around to see Geoff looking down at them. He raised an eyebrow, asking, “What are you three up to?”

  
Gavin grinned, tugging Michael’s arm to bring him closer to him. “Me and Michael are getting married today! And Lindsay’s making us crowns!” 

  
Geoff smiled. “Really? So that means you guys aren’t mad at each other anymore?”

  
Gavin frowned. “I wasn’t mad at all. I was just really upset, since Michael was gonna leave us.” He sighed, looking back at Michael. His expression quickly turned to a grin as he continued, “But Michael told me that once we get married, it’s a promise that we’ll meet again one day and be together forever after that! So… It’s not so bad.”

  
Michael nodded. “So even though we won’t be together right now, we will again someday.”

  
Geoff sighed, crouching down to be at eye level with the three of them. “This is like one of those dramatic love stories you see on TV. But this is _actually_ sad.”

  
“It’s not like we’re never gonna be together ever again!” Gavin pointed out. “It just makes it harder to wait ‘til we _can_ see each other!”

  
Geoff smiled again, pulling the three into a hug. “Aww, that’s cute. But if we spend all our time here talking about Michael leaving, you’re losing precious time that you could spend together back at our house!”

  
Gavin gasped. “Mr. Ramsey’s right, Michael! We’re gonna have to do a lot of setting up and planning for our wedding! We need to go home right now, or we might run out of time! Your parents aren’t gonna get you early, right? Right?”

  
Geoff stood up, shaking his head. “Nope. Michael’s parents called and said they’d be pretty busy today, so they won’t be here ‘til late. But I’m not sure about Lindsay.” He looked to her, asking, “Do you know if your parents are going to get you early or late?”

  
Lindsay shrugged. “I think they said that they were gonna call you, but I’m definitely gonna be home to eat dinner!”

  
“Then we should go right now, because Lindsay should be here for the whole thing! I don’t want her to miss anything,” Michael said. “And she definitely has to be there when I leave, because I wanna be able to say goodbye to all you guys!”

  
“Well even if I leave, you can still say goodbye to me,” Lindsay pointed out.

  
“Yeah, but, I wanna say goodbye to all of you at the same time,” Michael said. “Or else it won’t feel like I really said goodbye.”

  
Geoff sighed dramatically. “Instead of talking about the fact that you might run out of time, why don’t we just go home so you _don’t_?” he asked. “Or am I gonna have to carry you to the car again?”

  
Michael laughed. “Carry me, carry me! Gavin doesn’t like it anyway!” he said, outstretching his arms to Geoff.

  
Gavin pouted. “I was just scared! Carry me instead, pleeease?” Gavin pleaded.

  
“What if you get scared again? I won’t, I know I won’t! So carry me!”

  
“But Michael, he’s _my_ dad! So he _has_ to carry me!”

  
“But Gavin, he’s your dad, so he can carry you any time! I’m leaving, so he _has_ to carry me today!”

  
As the two continued arguing back and forth, Geoff sighed again as he picked Lindsay up from behind, effectively startling her, and placing her on his shoulders. “Since you two don’t know how to play fair,” he said, as Lindsay started laughing from her place above him, “I’m gonna carry Lindsay.”

  
“I’m queen of the world!” Lindsay proclaimed, laughing the whole time.  
Michael and Gavin both let out a disappointed sigh, looking at each other as they nodded.

  
“I guess that’s fair,” Michael shrugged.

  
“Yeah,” Gavin agreed. “Mr. Ramsey never carried Lindsay before, and we both got a turn already. It’s fair.”

  
“See how simple that works out when you agree?” Geoff said. He nodded over to the teachers, continuing, “Now, say goodbye to your teacher for the summer and then we can go. Quickly, though, quickly!”

  
Geoff, along with the three kids, went over to the teachers, and said their goodbyes.

  
“Aww, Michael,” said one of them, sadly, “It’s really upsetting that you’re leaving us so soon. Maybe one day you’ll come back to town and say hello?”

  
Michael nodded. “I hope so! Me and Gavin are gonna see each other again, so I bet I’ll see you, too!”

  
The teacher smiled, bringing both Michael and Gavin into a hug. “You guys are so sweet.” The teacher stood up, waved to Lindsay and Geoff, and walked away to speak with some of the other parents.

  
The four of them watched the teacher walk off for a moment before Geoff finally sighed and took the boys’ hands in his. “Alright guys,” he started, as Lindsay held on tightly in fear of falling off, “it’s time to go home.”

  
Gavin grinned, letting go of Geoff’s hand and readjusting his backpack’s straps. “Michael!” he exclaimed, catching his attention. “Let’s race again!”

  
Michael let go of Geoff’s hand as well, throwing off his backpack as he said, “You’re on! But this time, I’m not gonna let you win!”

  
“Sure you won’t,” Gavin teased, already headed for the door. “If you can catch me!”

  
Gavin pushed the door open, bolting through as Michael ran after him. He yelled something along the lines of, “Hey! That’s not fair!” as he, too, threw the door open and rushed out. Lindsay and Geoff were left behind, staring at the door, confused as to what just happened. 

  
Geoff looked up at Lindsay, asking, “What just happened?”

  
Lindsay shrugged, giggling. “Who knows, they’re always doing that.”

  
Geoff shook his head, sighing. He crouched down to pick up Michael’s backpack, and headed outside with Lindsay still seated on his shoulders, her legs kicking and digging into his chest. He passed out the door and walked along the sidewalk until he reached the car parked by the curb, finding the two boys arguing.

  
Michael and Gavin both had one palm against the car door, bickering back and forth over who won the race. What was said was practically incomprehensible as both boys were yelling at the same time. Gavin stomped his foot, and Michael balled his fists, and before things could get any worse, Geoff stepped in, pushing the two boys away from each other.

  
“Whoa, hey, what’s going on?” Geoff asked, looking back and forth between the two boys. Both mouths opened, and before anything was said, Geoff added in quickly, “One at a time, one at a time. Gavin, you first.”

  
“Michael says it’s a tie, but I was here first! I had my hand on the car first!” Gavin stated, crossing his arms.

  
“No, you weren’t! We got here at the same time, so it’s a tie! We both won!” Michael yelled, leaning against the car door.

  
Lindsay sighed, throwing her head back dramatically. “You guys are always fighting about the dumbest things!” she exclaimed. “Why’s it matter who won? Why are you guys even fighting? On your wedding day, too!”

  
Both boys’ expressions turned from anger to guilt in a matter of seconds as their arms dropped. Geoff looked up at Lindsay again, silently thanking her. Lindsay nodded, giving him a thumbs up. “ _Thank you_ , Lindsay, for bringing up such an important point.” He looked back down at the boys, moving them aside to open the car door. “There’s no point in fighting today, right? Don’t you want this day to be full of only happy memories?”

  
Michael and Gavin’s gazes were locked to the ground, but Geoff could tell that they were both silently agreeing.

  
“Now, come on, let’s go home, and you guys can have as much fun as you can in…” Geoff looked up at the sky, drawling out the word as he thought, “five hours or something?”

  
Geoff lifted Lindsay off his shoulders and placed her gently on the ground. After handing Michael his backpack, he rounded the car and climbed into the driver’s seat. Michael and Gavin waited a moment longer before finally getting into the car, followed quickly by Lindsay who sat furthest right.

  
After a moment of awkward silence between them, Gavin looked to his left, getting Michael’s attention. “Hey, Michael,” he started quietly.

  
Michael blinked before realizing Gavin was talking to him. “Oh. Yeah, Gavin?”

  
“Sorry for fighting over something so stupid,” he apologized, flopping back against the seat. “Lindsay’s right.” To such a statement earned an, ‘I’m always right,’ from Lindsay. “I mean, it’s our _wedding day_! You’re not supposed to fight on such a huge day.”

  
Michael laughed, nodding in agreement. “No, I’m sorry too, Gavin.”

  
Gavin shook his head. “There’s nothing you gotta be sorry for! I started it. If I said it was a tie, too, we wouldn’t be fighting.”

  
“No, no!” Michael laughed. “Not just that. I mean, like, everything. Leaving and stuff. And breaking my promises.”

  
Half expecting Gavin to burst into tears, Michael squished himself away from Gavin, and back into the car seat. What he _didn’t_ expect, however, was what he got. Gavin grinned, bursting into a fit of laughter. “Michael!” he exclaimed, giving him a light slap on the back. “You don’t need to be sorry for that! We already made up, and we know exactly how this is gonna work! You’re just leavin’ for a little bit! I’m gonna see you again, and you’re gonna see me again! Geez, Michael! Stop worrying, it’s gonna be fine.”

  
“Yeah, Michael,” Lindsay added. “I mean, you should be sorry, because if you didn’t have to leave we’d all still be together, but stuff happens and all.” She leaned over, tilting her head to look at Michael. “Right, Michael? We’ll see you again.”

  
“And if you _don’t_ ,” Geoff broke in, chuckling lightly. “We’re gonna come after you for breaking my son’s heart. That right, Lindsay?” he asked, peeking at her from the rearview mirror.

  
Lindsay giggled. “If you break my Gavvy’s heart, I’m gonna break your _everything_!” she proclaimed. laughing the whole while.

  
“You can’t hurt Michael!” Gavin pleaded.

  
“If he hurts you, I will!” Lindsay continued laughing, throwing blows at the empty car seat in front of her.

  
“I won’t break Gavin’s heart,” Michael said, laughing at Lindsay’s threats. “And I’ll definitely come back.”

  
Gavin looked at Michael and smiled—not just some amused smile, as if he’d just laughed at a joke or something. A real, true, warming smile that Michael thought he couldn’t bear to leave.

  
“I know you will, Michael. I believe you, I really do,” Gavin said, that smile intact the whole time. “Even if these two don’t!” he added quickly, in mock annoyance.  
Michael nodded. “Then I’ll just come back to prove it.”

  
But maybe, just maybe, he thought that leaving for just a little while wouldn’t be so bad.


	4. Preparing for a Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow ok if we aren't jerks then i dont know who is
> 
> we are so super sorry this is so late!! but i just got caught up in everything especially some friend problems (and nO they are not between us and they're not even negative things so it's alright nothing's too bad) and well we barely had any time
> 
> literally i just typed up half of this yesterday
> 
> but i absolutely do promise that this summer LIAP will actually finish and a few other projects may come about!! we might hold like a poll or something to see what you guys would like to see next but i will say that i have a little interactive choose your own ending story coming up!! and yes sorry it's mavin
> 
> oh and we've had a fic tag on tumblr for like ever but i just forgot to mention it? it's "fic liapromise" for anyone interested
> 
> yes and we'll try to get chapter 4 up as soon as we can!! thank you for being sooo patient really you guys are great

The moment Geoff parked the car, the three kids jumped out and went for the front door. Laughing as they threw the door open, they raced up the stairs and headed for Gavin’s room.

Rushing up the steps, they skidded on the wooden floor in their socks as they rounded the corner and dashed down the hall. Gavin went for the doorknob, nearly slipping as his feet kept going without him. He turned the knob and pushed the door open, giggling as he rushed in. Lindsay followed right after, sliding into the room and slamming the door in Michael’s face.

“Hey!” Michael complained.

“You’re not ‘sposed to see his dress yet!” Lindsay argued.

“But—“

“No buts! Go find Gavin’s dad and get dressed!”

Lindsay pressed her ear to the door, listening for Michael to give up and head off. After hearing a sigh and a series of angry footsteps, she finally moves away from the door and turned to Gavin.

Gavin was in his closet, ankle deep in various clothes he’d been pulling out of his closet. One after another, he pulled out a piece of clothing, sized himself up to it, shook his head, and to the ground it went.

Lindsay laughed, coming closer to Gavin to look at the clothes he was throwing to the floor. “Gavin! What are you doing? Your mom is gonna be so mad at you!”

Gavin sighed. “I gotta look really good today! It’s a special day, so I have to be really pretty.”

Lindsay hummed. “Yeah, but you don’t have a dress to wear, do you?”

“Nope.”

“Maybe your mom will?” Lindsay suggested.

Gavin nodded. “Yeah, but what if it’s too big for me to wear? And Michael might still be out there.”

Lindsay shrugged. “We’ll just… find something small. And Michael, well…” Lindsay went back over to the door and pushed it open a bit, just enough for her to stick her head out to survey the area. Her eyes darted back and forth, checking all the doorways, up and down the hall, and the stairwell.

“Nope!” she reassured, closing the door again. “All clear.”

“Okay,” Gavin said, shoving his clothes back into his closet. Slamming the door, he continued, “I’ll take you to their room.”

The two bounded out of the room and walked down the hall to the master bedroom. Gavin opened the door and Lindsay went in, Gavin following right behind her.

Lindsay went straight for the closet, opening up the double doors and looking at all the clothes held inside.

“Whoa… There’s lots of clothes here.” She marveled at the expanse of clothing, pushing the clothes apart and examining everything in the closet.

“Of course there are,” Gavin replied, closing the door and coming over to join her. “Both their clothes are in there, so there’s gotta be lots.” He helped Lindsay skim through the clothes, looking for anything that he could wear.

After a few minutes of looking at various dresses, blouses, and skirts, Lindsay sighed and left the closet. She went over to the dresser and started sifting through the clothes in the drawers.

“Is there anything there?” Gavin asked, still looking through the closet.

Lindsay shook her head, gasping as she immediately shut the underwear drawer that she accidentally opened. “Um… Nope.” She turned to the bedside table, spotting something on the tabletop. “But, maybe…”

“Maybe what?” Gavin stepped out of the closet to look at what Lindsay had found, shooting her a confused look as she started giggling.

Lindsay turned around to face Gavin with her hands behind her back, obviously hiding something. “Oh, Gavin…” she said in a singsong tone, grinning at him. “Look!”

Lindsay pulled what she was hiding from behind her back, revealing a make-up set to Gavin. “All this pretty make-up!”

Gavin hummed, staring at the colors, outweighing the possible outcomes. Either he let Lindsay do what she wanted and have it go terribly wrong (or much better than he expected), or he said no and saved his face the trauma.

Not wanting to upset her, he answered, “I… guess it’s okay. As long as you don’t make a mess with it. And don’t waste it!”

Lindsay cheered. “Yay! And I’m not gonna waste it!” She tried opening the case, pulling out all the different make-up and opening them to see what was inside. “I’m gonna use all this stuff…”

“Um, Lindsay…” Gavin started, apprehensively, “You know how to use that stuff, right?”

Lindsay’s grin only widened. “Oh, Gavin… Don’t worry. I’ll make you look _super_ pretty.”

Gavin swallowed nervously. He had a feeling that his and Lindsay’s ideas of ‘pretty’ were different.

 

 

Meanwhile, Michael spent his time face down on the couch downstairs, groaning over having no clue of what he should do.

Geoff laughed, entering the living room. “What, don’t know what to do?”

Michael rolled onto his back and shook his head. “Gavin and Lindsay won’t let me stay with them since I’m not ‘sposed to see Gavin yet, and he can’t see me. So I’m stuck down here since Lindsay’s helping Gavin, and I don’t know what to do.”

Geoff nodded, motioning for Michael to scoot over. “Well, you’re supposed to get ready, aren’t you?” he asked, sitting next to Michael. “Have any idea of what you’re gonna wear?”

“What _do_ you even wear when you get married?”

“Good question.” Geoff paused. “How ‘bout this, who’s wearing the dress?”

“Gavin. But I’m wearing that thing that covers your face.”

“Alright,” Geoff nodded again, placing his hands on his knees and standing up. “Then we’re gonna need a suit for you, buddy.” He hummed, thinking again. “I… I _might_ have something for you, but I can’t guarantee that it’ll be a perfect fit. How’s a shirt and a tie sound? Good enough?”

Michael shrugged. “If that’s what people wear when they get married.”

“Alright, you stay here,” Geoff pointed to the couch, “and I’ll head upstairs and get the stuff real quick.” He headed to the stairs, already starting up the steps. “Be right back!” he called, and proceeded up the rest of the steps.

Geoff walked down the hall and headed for the master bedroom, surprised to hear giggling from inside. He expected something like a dress up game, but it was definitely much more than he expected.

Geoff opened the door to find Gavin sitting on the bed facing the wall opposite the door while Lindsay brushed through his hair with a comb, trying to comb it all back. When she heard the door open, she gasped, turning around and shielding Gavin from Geoff’s view.

“Who’s there?” Gavin asked, not turning away from the wall.

Lindsay sighed in relief, dropping her arms. “Hi, Mr. Ramsey.” Turning her attention back to Gavin’s tangled hair, she answered, “It’s just your dad.”

“Really?” Gavin asked, turning around to face Geoff. “What do you think of my face? Lindsay said she made it all pretty.”

When Gavin turned around, Geoff saw him dressed in one of Griffon’s ankle length skirts, the waist band up to his chest, and his face heavily covered in makeup.

Geoff’s mouth fell open, which he immediately covered with his hand to keep himself from bursting into laughter. “I... Well…” he started, trying to say something that wouldn’t hurt the kids’ feelings, “You look… different.”

“What _kind_ of different, though?” Lindsay demanded.

“Stunning,” Geoff corrected himself, staring at Gavin’s green eyes, surrounded by deep blue eye shadow, and his eyelashes covered in clumpy mascara. “Oh yeah, definitely stunning.”

“Really?” Gavin grinned, heavily coated, dark red lips shining, and Geoff had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at the thought of, ‘are his cheeks that pink because he’s blushing, or is it because Lindsay covered them in huge globs of bright pink blush?’

“Oh, yeah! Yeah!” Geoff nodded, moving to the closet. “And I _really_ wish I could stay and help,” he said, searching through the clothes for a tie and a button down, “but I really have to help Michael downstairs.”

Gavin turned back around, facing the wall opposite the door. “That’s okay, I have Lindsay to help me. Right, Lindsay?”

Lindsay nodded, combing Gavin’s hair again. “Yeah, if I could get these tangles out!” she exclaimed, tugging the comb through Gavin’s hair. “Geez, I bet you never comb it.”

“Ow, ow, Lindsay!” Gavin yelled, pushing her away. “I _do_ comb it! It just gets really tangled all the time.”

After a few moments of searching, Geoff finally pulled out a small dress shirt and a tie that could possibly fit Michael. Heading for the door, he called back to the two, “Bye, guys! Don’t hurt yourselves.”

The moment Geoff stepped out of the room, he couldn’t keep himself from laughing any longer. He continued laughing as he walked down the hallway, back to the staircase. Before he could get downstairs, he spotted Griffon walking out of Gavin’s room.

“Did you see the mess he made in there?” she asked, coming over. “He’s cleaning that up himself, he can’t just leave that there.”

Geoff continued laughing. “You think _that_ was a mess? Wait ‘til you see Gavin himself.”

Griffon grinned. “Please tell me his face—“

“Is absolutely terrifying.” Geoff finished. “I swear to _God_ I couldn’t keep myself from laughing in there, but I didn’t want to hurt the kids’ feelings.” He paused for a moment before laughing so hard he couldn’t speak.

Chuckling along with him, Griffon asked, “What’s so funny _now_?”

Between fits of laughter, Geoff tried to force out an explanation. “It’s… It’s just that…” He wiped the tears out of his eyes, trying to regain his breath. “I was gonna say, ‘he looks like a clown,’ and I thought of him with a clown nose and clown suit and shoes on.”

Griffon sighed. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

“You have to admit that it’s at least a little funny!”

Griffon laughed. “Okay, fine, yes, it is.”

“See! Oh my god, imagine him wearing that to their little wedding. Do you know how hard I would laugh? You just see Gavin dressed in this little clown suit, shoes and all.”

Griffon shook her head. “Why, Geoff, why?” she asked, in spite of herself laughing.

“Oh my God, imagine later that night, the first thing he says is-”

“Oh, please, Geoff, no—“ Griffon interrupted.

Geoff had to prepare himself to say what he was about to say, trying to calm himself down from laughing so hard. “A _m I **seducing** you with my clown nose, Michael?”_ He got through about half the sentence before bursting out into laughter again.

Griffon started laughing so hard she could barely breathe. “Geoff, no!” she managed to get out.

“Geoff, _yes_ ,” he replied, cackling as he headed down the stairs. “Oh, God. I have to go help Michael.”

“Don’t you dare say a word to him about the conversation _or_ what you saw Gavin wearing.”

“I won’t have to!” Geoff called up the stairs. “He’ll see for himself.”

When Geoff reached the bottom of the stairwell, Michael jumped off the couch, bombarding Geoff with questions. “Who’s seeing what? Did you see Gavin’s dress? If you did, then don’t tell me!”

Geoff finally calmed down from his fit of laughter when he reached the couch. “Relax, Michael, I’m not saying anything.” He held the shirt up by the hanger and sized it up to Michael.

“Will it fit?” Michael asked.

Geoff shrugged. “It looks a little big, but I think it might be okay. Why don’t you try it on?” he suggested, gesturing to the stairs. “You can—“

“Where can I put it on?” Michael interrupted, more talking to himself than to Geoff. “And do I put it on over my shirt? But that would look weird, right? And it’s hot outside. I would be really sweaty. But what do I do with my shirt then?”

Geoff smiled. “You seem nervous, Michael.”

“I am!” Michael agreed. “This is super important, right? So it _has_ to be perfect! I don’t wanna mess up.” Michael frowned. “What if I mess up? Do you think Gavin is gonna be mad at me, or would he laugh at me, or what else?”

Geoff nodded. “Trust me, I felt exactly the same way on _my_ wedding day. I know what you feel like.”

Michael paused in his worrying, looking up at Geoff questioningly. “Really? You were scared about what Gavin’s mom would do if you messed up?”

“Of course I was,” Geoff said. “Like you said, today’s a really special day for you two. So on my special day, I was nervous too. But calm down!” he said, patting Michael on the back. “It’ll be fine, alright?”

“But what if I _do_ mess up? Or if I look funny?” Michael asked.

“Then if Gavin really does love you, he won’t care. And trust me, Gavin really _really_ loves you,” Geoff said.

Michael smiled, feeling his cheeks heat up. “And I love Gavin, too!”

“Well, duh, you love Gavin, why else would you be marrying him?” Geoff remarked, in spite of the grin on his face. “Now go ahead and put this on in the bathroom upstairs, and you can take off your shirt if you think it’ll be too hot. And make sure you don’t see Gavin’s dress!” Geoff warned.

“Okay! I’ll be right back!” Michael called as he ran up the stairs, headed for the bathroom.

 

Meanwhile, Griffon slipped into the master bedroom. Immediately, Lindsay did the same to Griffon as she had done to Geoff, gasping and turning around, blocking Gavin from her view. Gavin covered his head, folding himself to block himself from her view.

“Who’s there _now,_ Lindsay?” Gavin asked.

Lindsay dropped her arms, turning back around and patting Gavin twice on the shoulder. “Just your mom.”

Griffon smiled, coming over to their side of the room. “Having fun getting all dressed up?”

Gavin uncovered his face, looking to Griffon. “Yeah, Lindsay’s helping me, too! I look pretty, don’t I?” he asked, grinning at her.

Having already prepared herself for the worst, Griffon didn’t even flinch when she saw Gavin’s face. “Don’t worry, you look _very_ special.” She nodded, kneeling down in front of the two. “Think you’d like _my_ help, too?”

“We _really_ need your help,” Lindsay said, handing Griffon the brush and hopping onto the bed next to Gavin. “Gavin’s all pretty since I helped, but I think you can help us more.”

“Alright, I’ll help then. But you already did a good job at getting Gavin all pretty.” She placed the brush down and patted Gavin’s arm, making a lifting motion, telling him to raise both his arms. “Not that he isn’t already.”

As she adjusted the waistband around his chest, Gavin puffed up his cheeks. “I’m not pretty.”

Lindsay gasped, jaw dropping into a disbelieving ‘o’ shape. “What are you talking about?”

Gavin grinned. “I’m _beautiful._ ”

Lindsay fell backwards onto the bed, clutching at her sides, trying to catch her breath as she kept laughing. “Yeah, Gavin, you’re super beautiful. How’d I forget?”

Griffon laughed too, smoothing out the skirt. She grabbed the brush back up and starting brushing his hair again, parting it to the side and getting all the loose hairs to stay down. “Of course Gavin’s beautiful. He’s my son. Who do you think makes him look so beautiful in the morning?”

“Your mom’s right!” Lindsay added. “If anyone could get your hair looking the way it does, it’s gotta be your mom,” she said, patting his head once Griffon finished, earning a “Hey, don’t touch it!” from Gavin. “Did you see me tryin’ to get all the tangles out? It’s gotta be impossible.”

Gavin pouted. “It’s not!”

“Not for me, according to Lindsay,” Griffon added, standing back up and stretching out her back. She placed the brush back on the dresser and turned back to the kids. “Well, I think you look fine, Gavin. Ready to get married?” she asked, immediately smiling over the fact that she’d said such a thing years before anyone would be expected to get married.

Lindsay rolled off the bed and jumped to her feet. “I’m sure ready!”

“But _you’re_ not the one getting married, Lindsay,” Gavin pointed out, hopping off the bed and smoothing out the skirt again. “I am!”

“Hey, Gavin,” Lindsay said, grabbing his hand. “Let’s practice dancing! You’re gonna dance with Michael, right?”

“Oh, yeah, we should!” Gavin agreed, taking her hand and moving away from the bed.

“I don’t really know how, but we can pretend, okay?” Lindsay said, giggling as she started moving with him.

Griffon watched Gavin twirl around in the skirt with Lindsay, giggling and having fun for a while before asking, “Hey, Gavin, are you nervous? Because you don’t seem like you are.”

Gavin stopped mid twirl, almost tripping over his own feet. Lindsay giggled, holding his hand tight to make sure he wouldn’t fall. “Oh, uh, I was really scared before. But now it’s just a little bit.”

“Really? What helped you calm down?” Griffon asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“I think that Lindsay really helped,” Gavin said. “Cuz… She told me that even if I messed up or something, Michael won’t care.”

“Because he won’t if he loves you!” Lindsay said. “That’s what my mommy says to me. When I make mistakes and stuff, she gets kinda mad, but she doesn’t stay mad at me because she loves me. So I thought, ‘Well, if my mommy feels like that with me, then won’t Michael feel that way with Gavin?’ And I think I’m right.” She looked to Gavin. “Because you were mad at Michael when he said he was moving, but you love each other, so you’re okay now.”

“Lindsay’s absolutely right,” Griffon nodded. “The people who love you will never be mad at you forever for whatever you think, unless it’s something that will hurt someone.”

“Well, I’m not ever gonna hurt Michael,” Gavin said. “At least I hope not.”

“And Michael better not hurt you!” Lindsay added.

“Neither of you should hurt the other,” Griffon said. “In fact, no one should be hurting anyone. ”

Both kids nodded. “We won’t hurt anyone!” they promised in unison.

Griffon smiled, glancing at the door. “Well, now that we’re done here, I think the other two will finish soon too, and we’ll be setting up for a wedding.” She stood up from the bed and moved to the door. Grabbing the handle, she looked back at the two, and said, “Hold on a second.”

Opening the door, she peeked outside for any sign of Michael. Having seen nothing, she closed the door again. “He’s not out there,” she said, turning back to the kids. “Wanna help me frost your wedding cake?”

Both kids’ faces lit up as they grinned. “Can we, really?” Lindsay asked.

Griffon nodded, opening the door. “C’mon, let’s go.” And the three were out of the room, headed downstairs to the kitchen.

 

Geoff was down in the living room, waiting for Michael to get back. He was slouched back against the couch, staring up at the ceiling, waiting to hear the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. As soon as he heard them, he shot up in his seat, watching the stairwell patiently.

Instead of Michael, however, he saw Griffon along with Gavin and Lindsay coming down the stairs. “Michael wouldn’t be right behind you, would he?”

Griffon shook her head. “Nope. When did he come upstairs?”

“I told him to go change into a dress shirt I gave him. I didn’t think it would take him too long, but he’s been in there for like ten minutes.”

Gavin and Lindsay raced out of the living room and into the kitchen. Griffon stayed back by the stairs, shrugging. “Maybe he needs some help? Go up and check.” She started for the kitchen. “Meanwhile, the other two and I will be in the kitchen making some cake.”

Geoff stood up from the couch, moving to the stairs and eventually climbing up to find Michael. He walked quickly down the hallway, headed for the bathroom. Reaching the room, he knocked on the door.

“Come in,” he heard from inside.

“You okay in here?” Geoff asked, opening the door and slipping inside.

Michael sat on the toilet with the cover down, trying to button up his shirt. His other was thrown in the sink, sopping wet.

“I just need to get my shirt buttoned. Then I’ll be done I think.”

Geoff stared at the shirt in the sink. “Why did you get your shirt all wet?”

Michael frowned, looking away from Geoff. “Um, I tried to look in the mirror, and my hand slipped and the water got turned on. It got all over my shirt and so I took it off and put it in the sink.”

Geoff sighed, kneeling in front of Michael to help him get the shirt buttoned. “At least you didn’t get _this_ shirt wet, or we’d have a problem with what you would wear.” He finished buttoning the shirt and stood back up. “Are we ready now?”

Michael shook his head. “I… I don’t know. Do I _look_ ready?”

Geoff raised an eyebrow at him. “What do you mean? What does what you look like matter?”

Michael shrugged. “I don’t know. Does it? I just wanna make sure today is perfect.”

“It will be perfect,” Geoff reassured him. “Why wouldn’t it be? Just because you don’t ‘look good’, it’ll be imperfect? Of course it wouldn’t.”

“If you say so,” Michael said, kicking his dangling legs back and forth.

Geoff sighed again. “Alright, Michael, something is bothering you. What is it?”

“It’s just…” Michael started, trying to word his feelings, “I want today to be super perfect. Because if it’s not, Gavin won’t remember it.”

“What makes you think Gavin wouldn’t remember something like this?” Geoff asked.

“You know Gavin! He’s forgets _everything_. So I don’t want him to forget this, today, anything we did, or me.”

Geoff inhaled sharply. “I see what you’re talking about. You’re afraid that Gavin will forget all about you.”

“Yeah. So I have to make today perfect so he won’t forget it.”

Geoff nodded, patting Michael on the shoulder. “Michael, listen… I know you’re scared about Gavin forgetting about you. That’s a scary thing. Moving is a scary thing. And losing friends is the scariest thing.”

Michael nodded, fiddling with the hem of the shirt.

“But Michael, if you two really love each other, you will never forget. You might not be physically together, but you’ll always have your memories. As long as you’re always thinking about them, you won’t forget.”

Michael stopped with the shirt and looked up at Geoff. “You think so?”

“I know so,” he said, smiling down at Michael. “Can I pick you up?”

Michael nodded, outstretching his arms.

Geoff lifted him up and showed him his face in the mirror. “See your face?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“What if you suddenly didn’t have a face?” Geoff asked, putting Michael back on the ground.

Michael started laughing. “Then I couldn’t see, smell, eat, or hear anything!”

Geoff grinned. “Well, fine, imagine Gavin couldn’t see your face. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Now, is he going to forget you if he can’t see your face? Or is he going to forget you if you have a fun time and make a lot of great memories?”

“The memories are what counts, right?” Michael asked.

“Yes, the memories count, not appearances. If someone’s pretty, why does that matter? Shouldn’t how they make you feel count more than what they look like?”

Michael nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. If Gavin didn’t have fun with me, then why would what I look like matter? He would just forget me if he only knew what I looked like.”

“Exactly!” Geoff nodded, patting Michael on the back. “Now, if I’m not mistaken, we’ve got a wedding to get to!”

Michael giggled. “It’s just downstairs!”

“But why would you want to wait when you could get there now?” Geoff pointed out. “Hey, I’ll race you downstairs!”

Michael grinned. “Okay!”

“Three… two… one…” Geoff whispered, “Pause for dramatic effect.”

Michael giggled again, trying to cover his mouth and get ready to race Geoff.

“Go!” he yelled, opening the door. Within a few seconds, Michael and Geoff were both out of the bathroom and rushing down the hallway, down the stairs, and into the kitchen.

“Aww, you beat me!” Geoff laughed, ending in the kitchen. Instead of another laugh, he was met with a scream, and Lindsay yelling, “No! Get out!”

He looked to Griffon, currently shielding Gavin (with the help of Lindsay) from Michael’s view. Michael was turned towards Geoff with his hands over his eyes.

Griffon laughed. “Well, this has turned out to be perfect so far.”

Geoff returned the laugh. “Definitely.”


	5. Wedding Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg this is late and im sorry, but on the bright side we're going to try to finish LIAP this summer? i literally power wrote this chapter all in one day omg
> 
> im warning you though, this chapter will hurt you very bad
> 
> i think now is a good time to tell you all to look up the meaning of lemon blossoms because that will kill you

After around five minutes of pure confusion, Geoff and Griffon were finally able to calm down the kids and bring some order back.

As soon as Michael ran into the kitchen and Geoff followed right after, Lindsay started screaming as she threw Gavin behind herself and Griffon, holding up her arms and shielding him from Michael’s view. Michael almost screamed himself, turning around and covering his eyes with his hands, so tight so that nothing could get into his view. Geoff looked to Griffon and started laughing, but soon after, they realized something had to be done.

Geoff tried prying Michael’s hands off his face, but when Michael refused, Geoff decided to lead Michael out the back door, shuffling him into the backyard where he could actually open his eyes without “ruining the wedding day”, as Lindsay claimed he was doing.

Once Michael was out of the house and Geoff gave Griffon a thumbs-up, Lindsay threw her arms down and turned to face Gavin, forcefully placing her hands on his shoulders. Griffon, too, turned and kneeled down to face him.

Lindsay asked, “You okay? I tried to make sure that he wouldn’t see anything.”

Gavin, slightly shaking, nodded.

Lindsay frowned, gently taking her hands off his shoulders. “Did I scare you? I didn’t mean to if I did. I’m super sorry.”

Griffon smiled at Lindsay for apologizing, and looked back to Gavin as she cupped his face in her hands. “None of us meant to scare you. Lindsay’s just… very protective of you. And Michael, too. They just wanted today to be perfect for you, so they wanted to make it just like a real wedding.” She paused. “And, well, when it’s a real wedding, the other person isn’t allowed to see the one in the dress before the actual wedding, so they wanted it to be just like that.”

Gavin looked up at her, nodding. A bit calmer now, he said, “Yeah. I know. I’m happy that they care about me.”

Lindsay grinned. “We really, really care about you! And we want you to only be happy, right, Gavin?”

Smiling at her as she threw her arms around him, he agreed, “Yeah, and I want you guys to be happy, too!”

Griffon smiled at the two of them before looking back at Geoff, who was standing by the back door. He nodded, and looked out the door to check how Michael was doing.

Michael, on the other hand, was facing the lemon tree. He started walking about the tree, pressing his hand to the bark. He hummed as he went around once, twice, three times, and more, as memories of the past year flooded back to him.

He found himself smiling, thinking about it. From the little things, like sharing lunches to reading together at school, to the big things, like saving Gavin from those bullies to proposing to him today.

Michael sighed, a different feeling settling in his chest. Sure, these moments were the best, probably the best of his whole life, but it pained him to know that, at least for a long while, he would never get to experience them again.

Michael stopped walking as the back door slammed open and Lindsay came out of the house. She flew across the grass, not stopping until she got to Michael, practically jumping onto him and knocking him into the tree.

Michael winced, holding his left shoulder as he pushed himself off the tree. He leaned back against it, glaring at Lindsay. “Why’d you do that?”

Lindsay smiled. “Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you! I’m just super excited! And I gotta tell you something!”

“You didn’t have to hurt me, though.”

“I said I didn’t mean it. Sorry.”

Michael huffed, letting his hand drop from his shoulder. “It’s okay. So, what were you gonna say?”

Lindsay’s face brightened up immediately. “Oh, oh! So, you’ve never seen a real wedding, right?”

“No, except like parts on TV and stuff.”

“Oh, okay,” Lindsay said, “Well, Gavin’s mom was talkin’ to us about weddings and stuff, and she told us that there’s some part where you guys tell each other why you love each other and that kind of stuff. And it’s a really mushy part where you tell each other your feelings and all that stuff.”

Michael grimaced. “Sure sounds really mushy.”

“Yeah, it is,” Lindsay agreed. “But,” she pointed out, “Gavin’s mom said it’s a real important part, so you gotta do it.” Lindsay turned to look back at the house as she said, “Gavin’s thinking about his right now, so you should too, okay?”

“Okay. I was sorta thinking about that stuff anyway,” Michael said, remembering again all the great moments he and Gavin shared. “I think it’ll be easy.”

Lindsay shrugged, placing her hands on her hips. “Easy, sure, but it has to mean a lot. You’re gonna do that, right?”

“Right!” Michael agreed, grinning at her. “So, what do you think I should say?”

“Hey, that’s up to you, not me.” Lindsay said, leaning forward and poking his nose. Michael’s face scrunched up as he scowled at her again, and Lindsay laughed. “But, um,” she advised, “maybe like stuff you like about Gavin? And put **_all_ ** of your feelings into it!”

Michael gazed up at the sky, trying to fit all his memories into a few sentences. Pulling moments from school, home, and even the emotional ones from under the lemon tree, he constructed his vows.

He looked back at Lindsay, grinning. “I think I got it.”

“Good! Now we can start, I bet.” She ran back to the door and knocked twice, probably to signal that the wedding could begin. When she returned, no one followed her.

Lindsay came over to Michael, standing behind him. He was about to ask why no one came out, but she stopped him before he was able to. She tapped on his shoulder, and when he looked back, she whispered, “Make sure you look at the door, not me. And when Gavin gets here you stand just like this,” she said, positioning him so that he was turned sideways, his left to the lemon tree and his right to the house. “Trust me, this is how it goes.”

Michael, having no experiences with weddings, agreed to do so and turned to face the house again.

After a few seconds of waiting, the door finally opened, and music started playing. Lindsay giggled from behind Michael, whispering, “That’s the wedding music.”

“I figured that.”

Griffon was the first one out of the house, and she held a small woven basket. Michael assumed it held flower petals, and he was right. Griffon moved out of the way of the door, started scattering the colorful petals, and made her way down the steps and towards the tree.

Geoff was next, and he held something behind his back that Michael couldn’t see. Michael strained to see behind him, standing on his toes and trying to find Gavin, but Lindsay lightly kicked the back of his leg, effectively stopping him.

Geoff moved to the right, and Gavin soon came into view, dress, veil, makeup, and all.

Michael grinned at the sight of him. Gavin made eye contact for a second, but quickly shifted his gaze to the ground, his cheeks coloring. Or maybe that was the blush that Lindsay attacked his face with, since he was still covered in the make-up Lindsay put on him. He was also dressed in the same black skirt that he found in Griffon and Geoff’s closet.

Geoff turned to Gavin, taking his hand with his free one, and led him towards the tree where Michael and Lindsay waited. They couldn’t find a veil, but they did have some see through ribbon. So instead, they tied a few long strips of the pink ribbon to a headband and let Gavin wear it.

The three of them moved slowly, with Griffon in front letting petals fall to the ground, and Gavin and Geoff hand in hand as they followed. Michael watched Gavin the whole time, and Gavin still refused to look him in the eye.

When Griffon reached the tree, she let a final handful of petals fall before moving to the side. She sat down in the grass, cross-legged with the basket placed right next to her. She sat far from Michael and on the side where Gavin would stand, her hands clasped together as she watched Gavin and Geoff walk up.

Once the two of them reached the tree, Geoff gave Gavin’s hand a squeeze as he finally let his hand go, walking backwards (to make sure what he was hiding was still unseen) to his place by Griffon. Gavin quickly moved to his place, and Michael remembered what Lindsay said and turned sideways, facing Gavin. Gavin did the same, and this time, he looked Michael in the eyes.

Gavin grinned, green eyes shining bright despite the ridiculous amount of dark make-up covering his face. Laughing, he brushed the ribbons away from his face and took Michael’s hands in his. Michael gave them a squeeze, laughing right back at him as he turned to look at Lindsay.

Lindsay, on the other hand, looked like she was ready to burst into tears at any moment. Obviously, from happiness, but it still shocked Michael and Gavin. The three of them started laughing, and Lindsay really did start crying, but spoke through fits of tears and giggles.

“So, I don’t really know what I’m ‘sposed to say, but I’ve heard it a bunch of times in movies and stuff, so I’ll go with that. So, uh,” she cleared her throat, starting the speech. “Dearly beloved, we’re gathered here today to marry these two. Or something like that. And if anyone thinks that they can’t get married, too bad. Because they love each other very much and Michael’s leaving so you can’t stop them.”

Griffon and Geoff laughed from where they sat, urging Lindsay to go on with some quiet applauding.

Lindsay paused as she tried to think of what to say next. Not getting anything, she went on, “So, I really don’t know what to say anymore, so uh,” she tapped Michael, “tell Gavin why you love him and stuff.”

Surprised, Michael stumbled over his words a bit before he actually managed to get out his feelings. “Um, so I didn’t have a lot of time to think about this, but uh, Gavin, I really love you.” He paused, looking at Gavin for any sign to stop or go on. When Gavin nodded, still smiling, Michael persisted. “Cuz… you make me really happy. When we started sharing lunches and reading and stuff, I thought that we were gonna be friends only, but then we had a lot more fun. And I went home with you, and we played house together, and me and you did a lot of stuff together, and I really, really, _really_ love you, Gavin. And I promise that I’m gonna come back, and we’re gonna be together forever after that. And we’ll be really in love like all those mushy couples you see on TV and stuff.”

Michael quickly rushed through his whole speech, shifting from foot to foot, barely making eye contact with Gavin as he said his vows. All the while, though, he held Gavin’s hands in his, and each time Gavin gave a squeeze, he knew that he could keep going.

When Michael finished, Griffon and Geoff clapped for him, although much quieter than they would at the end of the ceremony. Lindsay tapped Gavin’s shoulder next, saying the same thing she told Michael, “Tell Michael why you love him.”

Gavin sucked in a huge breath before starting, and his speech was slower and much more organized, although Gavin was still flustered. “Well, Michael… I also really love you. When you moved here and saw me being hurt, you didn’t do what some other kids did. Other kids didn’t help. They ignored it, or they hurt me, too. But you were different, cuz you actually did something. And I thought that you just did it to be nice, and you weren’t gonna be my friend. But you said you would, and you are. And that made me really happy. And then, like you said, we had so much fun together. We had fun at school and at my house, and Lindsay, Lindsay too, and it was so, so fun.” He paused, biting his lip as he thought about what to say next. “And then… You told me you were leaving. And I got so upset. And that’s when I found out how much I love you. Because I didn’t act like that since… Since a long time ago. I know I love you, and I’m always gonna love you. Forever and ever, and I’ll wait for you to come back so we can be together.” He stopped again, looking Michael in the eyes. “I love you so much, Michael!”

Griffon and Geoff were clapping again, and Michael could feel his eyes getting heavy with tears, but somehow, Gavin didn’t seem as close. When Gavin realized Michael was going to cry, he moved his hands up to cup Michael’s face, saying, “Michael? Michael, are you okay? You’re gonna cry! Did I say something bad?”

Michael started laughing as tears streamed down his cheeks. “No, no!” He started rubbing his eyes. “I’m just… I’m really happy that you love me. And I’m really happy that I love you, too.”

Gavin grinned, pulling Michael close to him, but was stopped by Lindsay, who was also in tears. She put her arms between them, pushing them away.

“Nope, no hugs until you say the ‘I do’s!” She looked at Geoff, and said, “Ring bear! Bring the rings.”

Geoff stood up, still hiding the rings behind his back. He started laughing as he pointed out, “It’s ring **_bearer_** , not ring bear.”

“Whatever! Ring is the word that counts,” Lindsay said.

“Sure, sure,” Geoff said, mockingly rolling his eyes as he handed a “ring” to each boy.

Michael gasped, as he held the “ring” in his hands. “Lindsay! You made these? These crowns are awesome!”

“Yeah! Didn’t you notice all the white flowers were gone from the tree?” She asked, knocking on the bark of the tree. “I made these special for you. They’re called lemon blossoms, or that’s what Gavin’s mom said,” she said, motioning to Griffon. “Oh, but don’t put ‘em on yet! You gotta say ‘I do’ before you do that!” she almost yelled, as Gavin was just about to put his on.

Lindsay snickered at Gavin as he nearly dropped the flower crown. “So, I think what you do is you put each crown on each other or somethin’? Like, uh, Michael puts his on Gavin, and Gavin puts his on Michael.”

Both boys nodded.

“Okay, with that out of the way,” Lindsay sighed, “Michael, do you agree to marry Gavin, even though sometimes you guys are gonna get mad at each other and stuff, but at the same time it’s gotta be happy, but whatever, will you marry him?”

“I do?” Michael more asked than assured, eyebrows knit in confusion.

“Good. Put your ring on Gavin,” Lindsay ordered, to which Michael complied, trying to put the crown on Gavin’s head without moving the headband.

Once it was on, Lindsay asked the same thing of Gavin. “So, Gavin, do you agree to marry Michael even though the same things I said before could happen and stuff?”

Gavin laughed. “I do!” And he didn’t need to be told to put his crown on Michael, as he did so easily, slipping the crown onto his head.

“Yay!” Lindsay celebrated, throwing her hands in the air. “You guys are married now, and now you can hug and stuff.”

Immediately, Gavin pulled Michael close, throwing his arms around him and enveloping him in a huge hug. “I love you, Michael,” he whispered.

Michael tightened his grip on Gavin. “Me too. I love you, too, Gavin,” he whispered back.

Griffon and Geoff stood up, clapping for the two and showering them in flower petals. Lindsay joined in the applause, still with tears in her eyes. Griffon and Geoff, even, seemed ready to cry.

When the basket was finally empty, Griffon and Geoff came over to the three kids, and Griffon clapped her hands together as she said, “Alright, now for the celebrations! Who wants cake?”

Each kid gasped. Without answering, the three shared a knowing look, and, just like that, they were already headed for the door, running and laughing with each other.

Geoff turned to Griffon, saying, “Look at them go, enjoying themselves and having fun.”

Griffon nodded as she watched the kids go. “Just like it should be, right?”

“Definitely should be, but it can’t be.” Geoff stopped, letting out a deep breath. “Not when he’s leaving.”

Griffon started to speak, but decided against what she initially was about to say. Instead, she asked, “Will be, then?”

Geoff paused, thinking about such a simple question. “Will be sounds nice. Sounds really nice.”

Griffon started laughing, playfully punching Geoff’s shoulder. “Instead of moping around here, why don’t we go inside and share in the festivities? He’s leaving, but he isn’t leaving right **_now_**. We’ve got a few hours.”

“Okay, okay,” Geoff agreed, heading for the house with Griffon. “Let’s make the best of those few hours, then.”

When the couple entered the house, they found the kids already seated patiently at the table, obviously waiting for cake. Michael and Gavin sat close together, with Lindsay across the table from the duo, and all three waited with plates and forks in front of them. Expectantly, they stared at Griffon and Geoff.

Both parents laughed, going to the cake to start cutting. Geoff grabbed a knife and handed it to Griffon, who took each child’s plate and cut them each a slice. “I hope you like lemon,” she said as she was cutting Lindsay’s piece, “because we had a lemon theme with the tree, and I wanted to keep up with that.”

“Michael,” Gavin said, poking his shoulder, “See those yellow flowers?”

Michael took the plate that Griffon handed him, offering a small ‘thank you’ before replying to Gavin, “You mean these on the cake?” he pointed to the globs of yellow icing.

Gavin nodded. “Yeah! I made those.” He paused, getting a glare from Lindsay. “Well, me and Lindsay. But I made that one on your cake especially.”

“Really?” Michael asked, as Gavin took his plate of cake from Griffon. “How can you tell?”

As Gavin already started cutting off a piece of his slice, he pointed out, “On the cake, I made three of the flowers, and Lindsay made the other three. Mrs. Ramsey wrote, ‘Happy Wedding’, on it, see?”

“Yeah,” Michael nodded, “But how do you know this one’s yours?”

“Because I looked at the ones I made, and I remembered that my favorite was the one right by the ‘g’. So I told Mrs. Ramsey to give you that one, and that’s why you have it,” Gavin explained.

Michael smiled. “Really?”

“Oh, yeah,” Griffon cut in. “He made a huge deal about it, too. He really wanted you to have that one.”

Michael’s smile widened, and he looked at the yellow glop of icing resembling a flower. “I like it. A lot,” Michael said. “Thanks for choosing this one especially for me.”

Gavin shook his head, despite the huge smile on his face. “It’s not that special.”

“It’s special to me!” Michael argued back, finally taking a bite of the cake. “I love it. And I love you.”

Before Gavin could reply with the same, Lindsay cut them off. “Ugh, can you guys be not mushy for just a little bit? Maybe enough time so I can eat cake without gagging!” she laughed. “I’m happy for you guys, but if you’re gonna be like this, I’m gonna be left out!”

“These guys aren’t gonna forget you,” Geoff interjected, placing a hand on one of each of their shoulders. “They love you just as much as they love each other. Right, boys?”

Both Michael and Gavin smiled at each other before looking to Lindsay. “We love you, Lindsay!” they said in unison.

Lindsay’s cheeks turned bright red, and she tried so hard to hide her face that she practically pushed it into the cake. “Yeah… I love you guys, too.”

Griffon leaned on her elbows on the counter, laughing at the kids for a moment before asking, “Okay, guys, done with your cake and ready to play?”

Lindsay shot right back up, nodding furiously. “Yeah! We still have so much to play today, guys! Let’s go, now!” she said.

As Michael and Gavin finished up the rest of their pieces, they agreed. “Yeah,” Michael said, “We couldstay in here and play, or go outside.” Looking to Gavin, he asked, “What do you feel like doing?”

Gavin shrugged. “I’ll do whatever you guys wanna do.”

“So, Lindsay, then,” Michael said, “What do you wanna do?”

Lindsay hummed, kicking her legs back and forth as she thought. “You guys wanna play some video games? And if you get tired, we can go play house in the backyard, or even in Gavin’s room.”

“That sounds fun!” Michael agreed. “Let’s play Just Dance, c’mon, Gavin!” Michael said as he jumped off his chair and pulled Gavin’s arm towards him. Lindsay also hopped off her own chair and helped Michael in his quest to get Gavin out of his chair.

“C’mon, c’mon!” Lindsay urged him on as she pushed his back.

“Okay, okay! I’m going!” Gavin said, laughing, as he finally got off his chair and raced with the other two into the living room.

Michael got the controllers for the three of them, and handed one to Gavin and one to Lindsay. “What dance do you wanna do first?” Michael asked.

“Ooh,” Lindsay sing-songed, “You should dance to a love song!”

Gavin snickered. “I don’t think there’s gonna be any love songs.” He turned on the television and loaded up the game, browsing through the songs available. “Yeah, Lindsay, let’s just dance to a normal song.”

Reluctantly, Lindsay huffed, getting closer to the screen to see the songs they could dance to. “Fine. But I get the first pick!”

Michael and Gavin turned to each other, mentally agreeing that they should prepare themselves for the worst.

 

 

Once Lindsay chose a song, Michael and Gavin were already near exhausted, but Lindsay, who seemed to have boundless amounts of energy, was still up and going at it. Somehow, Michael and Gavin found some energy to keep dancing to at least four or five more, but that was the most they could do. Eventually, the three tired of the songs and dances, and decided to call it a day with dancing.

Lindsay’s parents called an hour after the wedding to say that Lindsay would be staying a while longer, and that she could eat dinner with them since it would be later than they expected to come get her. The kids were happy to have more time together, and planned a few more activities for themselves to enjoy.

The trio spent the rest of the time they had before dinner inside. After dancing, they headed up to the master bedroom to continue some makeup and dress-up shenanigans, so that Gavin wasn’t the only one with a face covered in colors. Lindsay’s face was now a variety of hues, but mostly blues. Michael’s was more green and orange.

Gavin and Michael also switched their wedding clothes out for different things. Gavin ditched the skirt and instead went for a bright red scarf and black button up coat, but got too hot in it, and left the coat behind. Michael took off the white collar shirt and picked up a large, green, cotton t-shirt. He found that it almost reached his feet, so he didn’t bother changing pants.

Lindsay, on the other hand, found all the accessories. She kept her regular outfit on, but slipped on a red tie, sunglasses, and held a beige colored purse. She decided that they should take turns walking the runway, and they did just that, showing off their new outfits to each other, laughing and joking about how great they looked in the clothes they found.

Once they tired of that, they returned the clothes to the closet and rid their faces of the overwhelming makeup in the bathroom. They then moved to Gavin’s room to play pretend, and acted out scenes from the fairy tales that they read all the time at school. One of the fairy tales they recreated was Cinderella, and Michael was Cinderella and Gavin was the prince. Lindsay didn’t want to be mean to Michael, but decided to be the stepmother anyway.

They started when Michael was about to leave for the ball, and Lindsay left him behind and took the stepsisters instead. Michael faked crying in the corner of the room, and Lindsay, since they didn’t have anyone else to play that part, was the fairy godmother. She granted Michael a night of fun and a dress, and Michael was off to the ball.

Michael hopped to his feet in the corner and walked over to Gavin’s bed, where Gavin waited by the door. Lindsay stood off to the side, watching Gavin.

When Gavin “spotted Michael in the crowd”, he immediately made his way over to him, and as the fairy tale goes, they spent the night together with Lindsay being jealous and watching from afar. Just before Michael was going to lose his glass slipper, which was really just his sock, Geoff called the kids down for dinner.

They came downstairs, got ready for dinner, ate and all that, but they didn’t stay at the table very long. As soon as they finished, they asked to be excused, and went to the backyard instead of back upstairs, as they thought that would be a perfect way to end their day.

That being said, the trio found themselves in the backyard, more sitting around and talking than playing a game. There wasn’t much for them to say, since they all knew that Michael would be leaving soon, as Griffon and Geoff reminded them at the table that Michael’s parents would be there in an hour.

Michael lay on his back in the grass, arms and legs outstretched. He exhaled deeply, saying, “Guys. Guys, I’m gonna miss you.”

Lindsay crawled over, and Gavin flipped onto his stomach, lying beside Michael in the grass. “Us, too,” Gavin said.

“Yeah,” Lindsay agreed. “A lot.”

The silence that followed was awkward, and even a bit painful. Michael’s gaze darted between his two friends as he weakly asked, “Do you guys really think that I can come back here?”

Lindsay frowned, chewing her bottom lip. “Do **_you_** think you can?”

A pause.

“Maybe.”

Gavin rolled onto his back, taking Michael’s hand in his and giving a squeeze. “Then it’s enough. You’ll come back,” he said, sure of himself.

Michael rolled his head to the side to face Gavin, staring straight at him. He searched his face for a trace of sadness, anger, anything but the contentment he found. “What if it takes too long? What if it’s like a bazillion years?”

Gavin’s eyes closed. A smile on his face, he answered, “Then I’ll wait that long. You will too, right, Lindsay?”

Lindsay nodded. “Yeah, of course I will. Even if you take too long. We’ll wait.”

Michael didn’t know how to answer.

“Hey, Michael,” Gavin said, opening his eyes and looking at him, “When I told you I loved you, and I still do, I mean and meant it. I’m not gonna stop loving you just cuz you leave. And you shouldn’t, too. It’s okay that you’re gonna leave. But you’re gonna come back. Love is really strong, you told me that. That’s how you got those bullies away from me, and that’s why we got married.”

Michael swallowed hard, whether from nervousness or from the never-ending feeling of pain in his chest he didn’t know, but he nodded at Gavin. “I know that.”

“So believe it.”

Once again, Michael was at a loss for words.

Lindsay scooted a bit closer to the two, letting her hand fall to the ground, fingers entangling with the grass. “I think that Gavin’s right. You’ll come back, Michael. I know you will.”

Before Michael could respond, the three of them heard the telltale car horn honk. They all heard it, but no one moved. It took a few minutes before Geoff finally opened the back door to call them to the front of the house.

With a heavy sigh, Michael pulled himself to his feet, and helped up Gavin and Lindsay. “We have to go there at some point. If we go now, we have more time for goodbyes,” Michael said.

Without a word, Lindsay and Gavin silently agreed, and they moved out of the backyard, down the driveway, and to the front of the house. There, Michael’s and Gavin’s parents were waiting for them.

Both Lindsay and Gavin held onto one of Michael’s hands, and they were extremely unwilling to let go. The adults knew this well, and didn’t bother them while they said their goodbyes.

The three of them huddled into a little circle, and Michael said, “I guess this is it?”

“For now,” Lindsay reminded. Her eyes were red, and getting heavy with tears. “For now, Michael. This is it for now.”

Michael nodded reassuringly. “For now.”

From his tone, you could tell Gavin was incredibly upset, but he didn’t seem close to tears at all. “Definitely for now, since you’re gonna come back to us. We just don’t know when.”

Michael leaned in a bit closer and placed a quick kiss on Gavin’s forehead. “We don’t know when, but we know that there’s gonna **_be_** a when.” Pulling away, he expected a loving expression on Gavin’s face, but he found pure fear and shock. Quickly, he backed away from Gavin, placing his hands on his shoulders and asking, “Wait, Gavin, are you okay? I-I didn’t mean—did I do anything?” Michael asked a slew of questions in a panic. Lindsay, too, was worried for Gavin and kept her hand on his back.

“I— Michael, you… you kissed me!” Gavin more accused than said.

“I know that, but what’s wrong?”

“You’re leaving me!” Gavin said. “And now I’m gonna have a baby! You’re gonna leave me and the baby!” Gavin cried.

Lindsay burst out laughing, and the tears from earlier broke through. “Gavin! No, no! You’re not—” she could hardly finish her explanation because she was laughing so hard.

Eyebrows knit and placing a hand to his forehead, Gavin asked, “Wait, what?”

Michael, too, was laughing so hard he could barely breathe. “No, Gavin, you’re not gonna have a baby. Don’t you know? You can’t have babies til you get older. Then, when we’re older and I kiss you, you might have a baby.”

Gavin, realizing his mistake, started laughing. Grinning, he pulled the two back to him. “Now that we laughed like that, I know how much I’m gonna miss this.”

Lindsay grinned, too. “You still have me!”

“I do, I know,” Gavin agreed, hugging her tighter. “And I’m really happy. But Michael won’t.”

Michael shook his head, smiling. “It’s okay. I have the memories.”

Gavin let out a deep breath, and pulled Michael close to him. Enveloping him in one of the tightest hugs Michael had ever experienced, Gavin whispered, “Michael, I love you, okay?” He paused. “Don’t forget what I told you. You’re gonna come back, and we’re gonna be happy. Don’t forget anything we’ve done, all the fun stuff we did at school, here at home, and all of that. Don’t forget today, and the best wedding I ever saw, even though it’s the only one I saw.” Another long pause as Gavin sucked in another breath. “Don’t break your promise, Michael. And don’t forget me.”

Michael, breathless and wordless, took a while to reply. “I… I won’t. Gavin, I promise, I won’t. And you better do the same you told me, okay?”

Michael couldn’t see it, but he knew Gavin was smiling. He could feel it. “I know, and I will.”

One final squeeze, and he let go of Michael. Stepping back, he allowed Michael to say his goodbye to Lindsay.

Lindsay stepped forward, and, not being able to contain herself any longer, practically threw herself on Michael. Sobbing, she tried to speak, but nothing was getting through. Michael laughed at how ridiculous it was, but before he knew it, he was crying along with her.

“Don’t you ever forget me, Michael Jones!” Lindsay said. “Don’t. Don’t you dare. Don’t you ever forget the name Lindsay Tuggey, or you’re gonna regret it!” She choked these words through the sobs, and, a little calmer, she continued. “Don’t do it. Me and Gavin… We love you so much. We’re not gonna forget you so easily, so don’t you go forgetting us. We love you, Michael. We really, really love you, and that’s never gonna change.” She squeezed him so tight, he thought that his very soul would leave his body.

Laughing and crying at the same time, Michael nodded, agreeing with her and throwing ‘yes’s, ‘sure’s, and ‘of course’s at her left and right. “Lindsay, Lindsay, geez! Okay, I know,” Michael said. “I love you guys so much, too. And I don’t think I’ll ever forget you. **_Never._** ”

Sniffling, Lindsay nodded. “Good, okay, good.” And she let him go.

The group hugged a final time before finally letting go for good. Michael walked away backwards, waving at them the whole while before bumping into Griffon and Geoff. He said his goodbyes to them, too, got a hug from each of them, and backed up into his parents.

His parents gave Gavin and Lindsay a wave, and shuffled Michael into the car. After that, they too followed in after, and Gavin and Lindsay waved as they watched the car speed away. They caught a glimpse of Michael in the back seat waving at them, too.

And like that, he was gone.

Geoff and Griffon knew better than to bother the kids, so they headed inside, deciding to wait until they were ready to come in.

Lindsay turned to Gavin, but decided against saying anything like, “so that’s it” or something that might upset Gavin further. Michael might have caught on, or might not have caught on, but Lindsay knew for sure that Gavin was trying his hardest to contain himself, and Lindsay understood that the slightest word or mention of Michael might break him. So, instead, Lindsay waited for Gavin to say something.

“How about we… Go back to the backyard before getting inside, okay, Lindsay?” Gavin asked.

Lindsay nodded. “Lead the way.”

Gavin, with Lindsay trailing behind, headed to the backyard. Gavin didn’t look so much at Lindsay, though. Instead, he paid much more attention to the backyard’s garden and lemon tree. Sighing, he slowly made his way through the flourishing garden, eyeing the various vegetables that he so lovingly helped to keep alive, along with Griffon and Geoff. The tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, onions… All of them came flooding back to him, tied to a memory or recipe. Whether it was with his new parents, Lindsay, Michael, or all of them, they came back. It would have been a happy thing to remember, if he didn’t know that Michael wouldn’t be there to recreate them for a while.

Biting his lip, he could feel his eyes getting heavy, and his vision was starting to blur. He’d been able to hold out this long, he could do it for at least another minute.

Lindsay trailed right behind him, letting her hands touch the plants, feeling them, remembering some of the memories Gavin was thinking of, too. She remembered coming over some days, sometimes helping to cook with Gavin and his parents. The taste was always so much better, knowing that she helped out in creating the dish.

Gavin placed his hand on the steps’ railing, starting to make his way up the old wooden steps. Lindsay quickly made her way up the steps after him, and Gavin turned to face the lemon tree. Lindsay caught a glimpse of his face, and, without a word, quickly looked away and went behind him.

The lemon tree wasn’t just a tree to Gavin. It was a special place. It wasn’t always that way, but when Michael started coming over more and more, it became the most important place for Gavin.

That was where they told secrets, shared stories, and it was the only place where Gavin could feel completely safe and happy. Of course he was happy anywhere else, but that special, warm feeling he felt in his chest when he and Michael spent their time together under that tree told him that this was where he belonged.

That feeling was replaced with a heavy, dark curtain thrown over his heart. It was devastating to him, to know that Michael was no longer there to cheer him up or tell him jokes or share stories and secrets.

He couldn’t go back.

Reluctantly, Gavin opened the back door and headed in, leaving the door open for Lindsay. As soon as she scurried in, Gavin stood quietly in the doorway, taking one final look at the blossoming lemon tree before exiting the backyard for good.

Whether what happened today was happy or sad, Gavin wasn't sure. It had its ups, and it certainly had its downs, but he knew one thing: Whatever was told or done in the backyard never left it.

And although Gavin had no choice but to let go of Michael and their day to day traditions, although he knew that he couldn’t go back, and although it pained him so much to have to do this to himself, he wasn't going to let go of this one promise.

Gavin wasn’t going to go back. He couldn’t, he’d be breaking that promise.

So, he finally closed the back door, and, turning to Lindsay, he gave her the biggest, tightest hug she’d ever felt. And he let it all go.


	6. Forgotten Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please, please, please oh please listen to these notes for once please
> 
> i would feel really bad if someone seriously got hurt because of reading this so just in case:
> 
> tw: bullying, tw: homophobia (although not a lot, just like one sentence), tw: ableism (like yknow calling people things that they arent as insults) and juuuust a teensy bit of violence but not at all graphic
> 
> if these things really bother you or will trigger you i'd suggest not to read the chapter and if you'd like i can just tell you what happened save for all the bad stuff that will hurt you c:
> 
> on that note, i am sorry friends, there is no healing this chapter. the next one though will be a blast.

Michael lay down on his back on his new couch. In his new living room. In his new home.

New, new, new. Everything was new.

Michael always believed that new things and change was good, and that being stuck doing the same thing all the time got boring, so that’s why people needed change. This time, though, he’d give anything to be back at home where he belonged, with Gavin and Lindsay, and where things were right.

The day after their wedding was probably tough for all three of them to deal with, but Michael didn’t see Lindsay or Gavin. Instead, he spent his day packing up the rest of his things with his parents, and, after that, they headed straight for the airport.

He didn’t get a chance to see either of them, but he mostly blamed himself for not making an effort to see them one final time, since he thought it would be too much for him to take. Especially for Gavin to have to go through.

On their way to the airport, Michael sat in the backseat, motionless and without a sound. Positioned there like a doll, he stared out the window at the scenery passing by—all the people, cars, places, and everything else he wouldn’t be able to see for a long, long while.

He tried not to think about Gavin or Lindsay, but that plan failed so easily. Thoughts and memories of his best friends plagued his mind continuously.

The airport was a blur for Michael. With all his thoughts about Lindsay and Gavin running through his head, he barely heard the buzzing crowds or the announcements of which planes were taking off when and where. He knew he wouldn’t understand most of what was going on anyway. His parents dragged him towards their terminal, pushing him through security and somehow getting him onto the plane without too much of a problem.

So there he sat, so many thousands of feet off the ground, headed towards his new home.

After they moved in, it didn’t take much longer than a few days to finally get every box unpacked. Things went by quickly with three people there to do the work, even though it was more like two since Michael couldn’t carry things that were too heavy for him.

Michael’s dad had no trouble getting used to his new job in the new area. His mother, too, didn’t have much of a struggle when finding a job, since she was able to obtain one within a month.

Michael, however, was having his own difficulties, although they were not concerned with a job.

Michael fully understood that he would miss Gavin and Lindsay, but he didn’t think it would be to such an extent that it was physically painful to think about them. Whenever the two of them came to mind, which was too often for him to bear at times, the loneliness he felt became heavier and heavier. Of course, he and his parents went around the neighborhood to meet the residents in their area, but most of the people around were all older, with children that were already grown. The few that had children were much older than Michael or much younger, too busy with activities like all day camps, or getting ready to go on vacation or already gone.

Whatever their neighbors were doing, it was clear to Michael that he wouldn’t be making any new friends this summer, and, honestly, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to.

Michael rolled over onto his stomach, left arm hung over the side of the soft, green couch, swinging forwards and back. This was how he spent most days, when it was too hot to go outside. He lay on the couch in the living room or did whatever he wanted to do that didn’t require too much moving.

So there he lay, bored and without anything to do, home alone on his sixth birthday.

His parents promised they would do something all together when they returned home from work, so Michael patiently waited for them to come home. Pushing himself up and onto his knees, he sat back down on the couch, staring at the huge, blank television in front of him. Stretching his arm over the couch’s arm, he reached for the remote sitting at the edge of the end table. Careful not to knock over the lamp or the pile of books sitting there, he grabbed the remote and settled down in his seat on the couch.

He turned on the television, flipping through multiple channels before settling on a channel that was playing cartoons, but he barely paid any attention to it. Instead, he kept thinking about what his parents were planning, his eyes glancing back at the clock on the opposite wall, between the curtained windows, from time to time.

His parents wouldn’t return for another hour at least, but Michael wondered what they would do when they got back. It probably wouldn’t be too late for them to go out to eat, since that’s what they usually did on birthdays. Or if they didn’t go out, then maybe his parents would cook something. Either way, whatever they ate would be up to him. There was no doubt in his mind that his parents would bring home a cake, and probably a present, too.

Whatever they did for his birthday, he was sure of one thing: It wouldn’t be the same without Gavin or Lindsay there.

There it was again, that painful feeling weighing down his chest. This was why he didn’t like to dwell on these thoughts and memories, since it reminded him that he could no longer physically see them or visit whenever he wanted to. Not like before, and it would be this way for so, so long.

That was another thing that bothered him. How long? He understood that he would try to get back, he definitely would, but how long would it take him? Days? Months? Years? It would probably be years, though, when his parents were always so busy. They had no time to go back and visit. It would probably be all up to Michael to get there on his own.

The feeling grew heavier with the thought of it, waiting so long to see them again. He decided against thinking of them, and, instead, pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind.

Eventually, Michael tired of watching the clock, so he settled for blankly staring at the television, mindlessly watching what was showing. He ended up drifting off to sleep, using the couch arm as a pillow. He was woken up, as he predicted, an hour or so later when the front door opened.

Sitting back up, he rubbed his eyes as he watched his father walk in with a box wrapped in colorful wrapping paper in his hands, while his mother held a white one.

He predicted it all so easily, but it wasn’t fair to say he truly predicted all of it, since it was expected every year.

Hopping off the green couch, he took the wrapped present from his father and set it down on the coffee table. His mother was already headed towards the kitchen, ready to place the cake in the refrigerator.

“Hey, Michael!” his father exclaimed, picking him up. He placed him on top of his shoulders, Michael laughing quietly, still drowsy from his sleep. “How’s your birthday so far? Did you do anything exciting today?”

Michael shook his head, bending over to look down at his father. “Not really. It’s too hot, I didn’t go outside.”

Michael’s father carried him into the dining room, saying, “Awh, that’s too bad! Your birthday must be terrible so far.” His father ducked under the doorframe, making sure Michael didn’t hit his head. He stepped across the wooden floor, finally placing Michael in one of the wooden seats surrounding the small dining table. He crouched down beside Michael, placing his hands on his shoulders. “So, what are we doing tonight?”

Michael’s mother entered the dining room, no longer holding the cake box she had with her when she first arrived. Placing a hand on the edge of the rectangular table, she looked down at her son, asking, “Do you feel like going out, or should we cook something together?”

Michael shrugged, kicking his dangling legs back and forth over the side of the chair. “I don’t know. But I don’t really feel like going out today, so can we eat here?”

“If that’s what you want, then of course we can,” his father replied, pushing himself back up onto his feet using the table. “Anything in mind?”

“I didn’t really think about it, but I’ll like anything you cook,” Michael answered, jumping off the chair. He slipped a small hand into one of both his parents’ hands, to their surprise, and led them out the door and into the pristine white kitchen to the left. When both his parents stopped walking, he put all his strength into tugging them forward just a bit more, towards the sink under the window.

He finally let their hands go, looking back at them as he grinned. “We can wash our hands first, and, then, I’ll help if you want me to!” Rising onto his toes, he reached for the soap by the side of the right handle.

His insistences earned a laugh from both his parents, who agreed to allow him to help. After thoroughly washing his hands, Michael grabbed a few paper towels from the roll sitting to the right and brought them back to his parents, who gratefully accepted them.

After that, all three of them were unable to decide on a recipe, so Michael’s father chose a cookbook by random that they had stored in one of the cabinets. He placed it, closed, on the kitchen island and flipped to random page in the book. They repeated this process until all three agreed on something that they had all the ingredients for, which ended up being a simple macaroni and cheese dish.

Michael helped his parents in locating the ingredients, while his parents took on the task of actually preparing and cooking the dish. Michael stood back and watched them chop up vegetables, boil the pasta, and heat everything in a saucepan.

Since most of the work had to do with things that were too dangerous for Michael to handle, Michael didn’t get to help much until they combined everything in a large bowl. Michael used a wooden spoon to mix everything together, and, afterwards, his parents poured it all into a baking dish, topped with breadcrumbs.

During the ten-minute wait as it baked in the oven, the family set the table. Michael’s father set three plates in front of each chair, while Michael got the utensils ready. His mother returned soon after with the finished dish in her hands, and they settled down at the table to eat, talking and conversing as families usually do at the table.

After dinner, Michael was presented with his birthday cake, and, as tradition goes, was sung to and blew out the candles, making a wish.

He tried his best to steer clear from any thoughts or wishes that would concern Gavin, but that hope failed quickly as he made his wish—to be reunited with him, and Lindsay of course, as soon as he possibly could.

He was given his gifts, which were mostly new video games or other various toys that he had interest in, but decided against using them for the night, stating that he “should probably save them for the rest of the summer, since he was gonna be so bored”. So, instead, they watched a movie—one that Michael had already seen, since it was too late to go out— for the remainder of his birthday.

When Michael’s eyelids felt too heavy to keep up and he started swaying, his mother stopped the movie and his father picked him up and brought him up the stairs and into his room on the right. His mother pushed open the white door, and his father, treading through the moat of toys and clothes, lay him down on his bed.

His mother sat beside him, and his father crouched down in front of him. Michael rolled onto his side so that he faced his father, and his mother ran a hand through his curly hair, pushing it out of his face. Smiling, she softly asked, “So? Had a good birthday?”

Voice heavy with sleep, Michael responded without thinking, “I did. But it would be a lot better with Gavin.”

There was a heavy silence in the room as his parents shared a knowing look. Neither of the two knew what to say to him, whether they should comfort him or leave him be.

His father sucked in a breath. Glancing back at Michael, he decided on saying, “We know. We’re sorry he had to miss it.”

Michael rolled back over, pulling his pillow closer. “S’okay,” he said with a yawn. “I’ll see him again soon.”

Understanding that they should probably leave, his mother rose from the bed and placed a hand on her husband’s shoulder. She nodded down at him, and then leaned over Michael, kissing his forehead. His father did the same, and they headed out, right after wishing Michael sweet dreams.

As Michael slipped deeper into sleep, there wasn’t much he dreamt of. He could dream all he wanted, but it wouldn’t bring back the past.

 

 

Gavin was having a hard time at school. Again.

The summer passed by rather quickly for himself and Lindsay. He certainly remained committed to his promise of never entering the backyard again—in fact, he found himself some days not even thinking of going back there at all—and he found other things to do to pass the time.

Lindsay came over a few times, and other times he went over to Lindsay’s house. They both steered clear of any conversations or thoughts concerning Michael—Lindsay did so for Gavin’s own good, and Gavin partly for Lindsay, but mostly for himself.

Still, the two were able to enjoy their summer for the most part, playing video games, going outside, or playing make-believe at home. What they both dreaded, however, was the looming thought of school being back in session.

Therefore, on the first day of first grade, Lindsay had to tug a very unwilling and worried Gavin into the new classroom at their new school.

Gavin’s nose scrunched up as he entered the classroom. It all smelled like new textbooks and a lot of whiteboard cleaner. He covered his nose with one hand as Lindsay pulled his other towards the stacked, white cubbies in the back. Each cubby had a name on a label in front of it, so Lindsay and Gavin were able to find their cubbies quickly.

Lindsay shrugged off her backpack and then her coat, stuffing her things into the cubby in front of her. Gavin’s was two higher than hers, so he stood on his toes to get his belongings into his cubby.

When they moved away from the cubbies, they both stared at the new classroom. There were no large tables with chairs at them anymore, but rather desks pushed together to form groups of four. The toys, too, were gone, and were replaced with bookshelves. Whiteboards and colorful bulletin boards with stickers, boarders, calendars, and words covered the remaining two walls.

Lindsay took Gavin’s hand in her own as she led him around the desks, looking for labels with their names on them. Gavin followed blankly, examining labels and reading the names.

Gavin eyed one group with only three desks and thought, “Michael’s desk should be there.”

The duo lucked out in having last names starting with “R” and “T”, so they ended up at the same table. They sat down and waited for the rest of the class to come in, watching the door as kids entered and sat at their tables. They watched and waited hopefully, and Gavin’s worrying worsened as time passed. Both Gavin and Lindsay were hoping the same thing—that the people who bullied Gavin the year before would be in the class across the hallway, not here.

Yet fate was not on their side.

One of them walked in just minutes after Lindsay and Gavin sat down, and two more were quick to follow. Two of them—the earlier one, and one of the two who just entered—sat down at the same group. The other wasn’t very far, and sat at the table right across from them.

Lindsay covered Gavin’s hand with her own, giving it a squeeze. Gavin returned the heartfelt gesture, still eyeing the boys.

He saw the two sitting together staring right back at him, talking to each other and laughing. The isolated one wasn’t looking at Gavin, but he was leaning over his desk and trying to talk to the others.

Gavin wished class would start already, but there was still another ten minutes before the teacher restored the class to order. Besides, not all of the children were there yet, so those who were took this time to talk about their summers and catch up with the friends they hadn’t seen as much as they wished they did.

Gavin looked around the room at all the kids who were sharing stories about the beach or wherever they vacationed. He didn’t see any unfamiliar faces, and he could recognize most of them from the previous school year.

He was about to look back at the boys, but their seats were empty. Furrowing his brows, he looked at Lindsay, whose face was a hilarious yet frightening mixture of horror and panic. Opening his mouth, he was about to say something, when he was suddenly pushed face-forward into his desk.

He didn’t need to turn around and see who did it. He already knew.

“Hey, stupid, where’s your friend?”

The boy that walked in earlier seemed to be the leader of this group. He was definitely taller than the other two, and he looked far more intimidating. Gavin didn’t respond right away, so the boy leaned in closer and asked again. “I asked you a question, stupid.”

“Not here,” was all Gavin said before adding, “And my name’s Gavin.”

A boy from the back stepped forward, adding in, “No one cares, stupid. Did you think we were just gonna leave you alone?” He had his hands on his hips, but it didn’t make him seem very intimidating. It just made him seem extremely pretentious, which he definitely was.

Gavin sighed. “Why aren’t you leaving me alone?”

“Cuz your stupid friend made us mad,” the final boy answered, “and now we’re gonna finish what we started.” He was much shorter than the leader, by at least half a foot. His arms were crossed over his chest as he spoke.

“Besides,” the leader added, “he’s not here anymore to protect you. So we’re get to do whatever we want.”

Lindsay huffed, jumping to her feet at slamming her hands down on the desk. “But I’m here! I’m still here for Gavin, and I’m not gonna let you do anything to him!”

The boy from the back—the pretentious one—pushed Lindsay back down into her seat. “Wow, you have your girlfriend helping you? What a wimp!”

“I’m not his girlfriend!” Lindsay shouted. “Besides, he’s already married!”

“To who?” the short one asked. “You’re six, you can’t be married! Only grownups can get married.”

“Well, he is, and you can’t do anything about it!” Lindsay retorted. “And he’s married to Michael, and he’s gonna come back later, and then they’ll be married for real!”

The leader made a fake gagging noise. “What? You’re married to another boy? That’s gross. You’re gross, stupid, and he’s gross, and you’re gross, too,” he said to Lindsay.

“I’d rather be gross than a jerk,” Gavin muttered, leaning on his elbow, staring away from the boys.

“Hey, shut up!” the leader said, pushing Gavin so hard that his chair tipped over. Gavin’s eyes widened as he desperately grabbed for the edge of the desk, or anything that would keep him from hitting the floor. He wasn’t fast enough, as he slipped out of the plastic chair and onto the cold, tiled floor.

As soon as Gavin started falling, the three boys ran away from Lindsay and Gavin, headed back to their own desks. Gavin spent a minute on the floor, holding his side that was aching from impact. Lindsay rushed to his side, grabbing his hand and helping him onto his feet when he was ready.

“Those jerks!” Lindsay fumed, stomping her foot down. She sighed, trying to calm down as she turned to Gavin, asking, “Gavin, are you okay? Don’t listen to them. They’re just huge bullies.”

“I know that,” Gavin agreed, still rubbing his side as the pain was starting to subside. “They’re right, though.”

Lindsay frowned, placing her hands on his shoulders. “What are you talking about? Nothing they said was true. You know that, don’t you?” Starting to panic, she tried to reassure him, “You know, you’re not stupid, and you’re not gross. You’re perfect just how you are. You know that, right? Right?”

“Yeah,” he said, picking up his chair, “but they’re right. Because Michael’s not here anymore to protect me.”

“B-but what about me? I’m here!” Lindsay pointed out, heartbroken that Gavin couldn’t depend on her alone.

“I know, and I’m really happy,” Gavin replied, sitting down in his chair. “But did you see what they did? They didn’t care about you being there, and they’re gonna keep bothering me. You know what that means, right?”

Lindsay walked behind Gavin and sat in her seat to his left. “I don’t get it, Gavin.”

“Michael’s not here to make them leave me alone, and they don’t care about you being there. There’s no one I can count on anymore. It’s all up to me, Lindsay. I have to forget about Michael for now. I can’t be stuck thinkin’ he’s gonna come back right away, because he’s not. It’s all on me.”

“But you can’t give up on Michael, Gavin!” Lindsay pleaded. “He told you he was gonna come back!”

“I know that,” Gavin nodded. “But he’s not here right now, and those jerks aren’t gonna stop. I have to think about me, not Michael right now. What am I gonna do if they hurt me again? I can’t just sit here and cry and wait for Michael or something. I gotta do stuff for me, too.” Gavin paused. “It’s gonna be hard, Lindsay. You gotta help me, too. I don’t wanna give up, but I don’t wanna sit here and get hurt.”

Lindsay nodded, biting her lip as she blinked rapidly, holding back tears. Sniffling, she said, “Okay. I’ll help you. I don’t want you to be hurt, too, so I’m gonna help. Just ‘til Michael gets back.”

“Just ‘til Michael gets back,” Gavin repeated, eyes heavy with tears he was struggling to hold in.

“I hope that’ll be soon,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around Gavin and giving him a tight hug.

They could hope all they wanted, but hope alone wasn’t going to bring Michael back.

 

 

Halfway through third grade and nothing was going how it should have for Michael.

The years went by slowly for Michael. He got to school the first day of first grade, and everything was well. They carried out their normal first day routines by introducing themselves, and the kids were all excited to see a new face. They were all smiles and laughter, greeting him and being friendly.

Michael was eager to meet someone that he could talk to, so he did his best to be polite and make friends. He definitely was able to, as he had people he could talk, play, and joke with, but he just wasn’t able to make as strong a connection with anyone as he had with Gavin.

Some days he would go to other kids’ homes, or they would come over to his house. Those days, though, were few and far between. Other days, his parents would ask him how school was, and why exactly he didn’t do much with anyone.

Michael’s reply would always be something like, “Well, school’s fine, but I don’t really feel like spending time with any of them.” When asked why he didn’t, his simple reply was always:

“They’re nothing like Gavin.”

Eventually, Michael gave up on finding someone whose company he enjoyed just as much as he did Gavin’s, and he settled on imaginary friends. Besides, tons of kids had imaginary friends, and if Gavin wasn’t actually imaginary, then it didn’t really count, did it?

There were still people that he chose to talk to, but he spent the majority of his time, at school and at home, alone with his own version of Gavin. At first, it seemed harmless, since he was definitely happier, but his parents saw it worsen with time.

Throughout second grade, he was the quietest out of his entire class. He never went out of his way to talk to others, preferring to stay by “Gavin’s” side. The only exception was group work, and, even then, he was reluctant to do anything with the other kids. Whether it was working on schoolwork, during lunch, during recess, or afterschool, Michael never left “Gavin’s” side.

The other kids thought that Michael was just lonely, or that he was just shy, so a few of them decided to go out of their way and try to befriend him. He was definitely happy to get to know them, but his one exception was that if they were going to talk to him, then they had to talk to “Gavin” too. One of the kids jokingly said, “Sure, I’ll be friends with some air,” and Michael blew up in his face, telling him that “Gavin” was not just air, and was 100% real. After that incident, the kids agreed to pretend for that afternoon that “Gavin” was real, but they never talked to Michael again.

Michael had no problem with that. What was problematic for him, however, were the rumors that started.

Things were starting to be said about him, and he knew it. People called him crazy, weird, the whole book of insults was shoved right at him. It was done behind his back, mostly, so Michael didn’t have too much of a problem with it at first. “Gavin” was enough for him to get by with, and so he sank deeper and deeper into his made-up world.

But that was only second grade.

Come third grade, and the things that were said were starting to get worse. The kids were cruel. They started openly taunting and teasing him. Some days, they were physical, but it was never more than a push or a shove.

Michael thought he could take it, so he did what he could. The many, many days he was home alone for hours were spent crying and talking it out with “Gavin”. He spoke to him, pretended that “Gavin” actually replied to him; that Gavin was the one there with him, and that he was the one calming Michael down.

He never said a word to his parents. If anything, he grew farther and farther apart from them. Besides, they were always so busy. There was no way they’d have time to listen to all his problems. So, instead, he put on a brave face for them, trying to seem perfectly fine. It was easier than he thought it would be, since taking everything out on “Gavin” certainly helped a lot.

He carried on that way every single day, having only “Gavin” to comfort him.

Some days, Michael struggled to bring himself to go to school. Most days, he sucked it up and told himself that he could get through it with “Gavin” there beside him.

The day started on the bus, where all the kids had their own friends. A group of kids that sat in the back continuously bothered him. When they felt merciful, they kept their voices down and threw paper balls at him or something. Other days, they were heartless, throwing insults at him. His favorites were “crazy” and “idiot”. Words like, “Is there something wrong with you? Get some real friends,” really stung.

Class wasn’t as bad, since the teachers were usually there to defend him. The kids still managed to get something through to him, whether they said it outright or passed him notes (which he honestly barely ever read). His teachers, though, treated him as if he was some sort of fragile little thing that needed as much love and coddling that he could get, which while that wasn’t something that wasn’t true, was definitely ridiculous in the way he was treated.

The worst part of the day was a tie between lunch and recess. Lunch was terrible, not just because he sat by himself, but because he could feel everyone in the lunchroom staring at him at once. It didn’t worry him as much as it infuriated him. After all, he was only sitting there. He could almost hear everything that they all said about him, so why didn’t they come up to him and say it to his face instead? Recess was terrible in the same way, with everyone staring at him sitting on the curb, talking to “Gavin”. Kids would come over and ask him if he wanted to play, but that happened so rarely. If they weren’t coming over to be nice, they were coming over to be mean.

After recess, Michael had to suffer through only two more classes, which Michael convinced himself into thinking weren’t that bad, since it was shorter than the morning (even though the taunting was just as bad).

Usually, at the end of the day, the kids on the bus couldn’t be bothered to think of anything else to say to him, or they were more interested in talking than teasing him. Whichever it was, Michael didn’t care, and he was just happy that they weren’t bothering him.

When Michael got off the bus and headed home, he threw open the front door. Throwing his things down to the floor by the stairs, he rushed right up the wooden steps, headed for his room. He’d open his door, slam it shut, and collapse onto his bed, grateful to be safe from the relentless kids from school.

When he was here, home alone for at least a few hours, this was where he poured it all out. On the worst days, he’d cry. On bad days, he’d lay around and complain for a few minutes. On the days where they took pity on him, he’d just have a simple conversation.

Whatever it was that he needed to say, his Gavin was there for him. Whether he was crying, complaining, or just talking, his Gavin was there to listen to all of it.

It was enough for Michael. In fact, some days, he could trick himself into thinking Gavin was there with him.

Every single day, though, when they were finished talking in the safety of Michael’s room, “Gavin” would ask, “Michael, when are you coming back for me?” To which Michael would always say the same thing.

“Soon, Gavin. I promised. You’re waiting for me, right? I’ll be back, soon.”

Yet Michael never added the rest of his thoughts to that sentence—that “soon” wasn’t soon enough.

 

 

It was too much for Gavin to endure.

Gavin really believed he could do it, but it was getting to be too much. It was every single day that they bothered him, and it was starting not to be a bother anymore. It was a nightmare.

Lindsay helped how she could, reporting them to the teacher when the boys became too rough. She didn’t do it very often, since the teachers were getting tired of her and the boys, so she avoided it when she could, opting to help by herself if possible.

It started simple, when the boys just called him names. Then it got a little more insulting, and from there things worsened. Gavin was ready to give up on himself. He’d already forgotten about Michael.

He and Lindsay were so lucky to be in the same class for three years in a row, even though they weren’t always at the same table. Just being in the same class as her gave Gavin a little more hope than he would have if they weren’t, since class work and group work would be a nightmare for him.

Grudgingly, Gavin trudged into the classroom with Lindsay by his side. Halfway through third grade, and things didn’t seem like they were going to get any better.

He and Lindsay stored their things away and headed for their table. For this part of the year, they were at the same table, so they sat side by side. There was an empty seat at their group, but they were happy by themselves.

Every day, Gavin glanced at the table with all three boys sitting there. Some days, they’d look back at him and laugh. Other days, they wouldn’t be paying attention to him. Today, they were all staring at him, but they didn’t laugh. Gavin stared back at them, confused, but decided against saying anything. Maybe today would be a rare day when they took pity on him.

Lindsay tapped on his shoulder to get his attention. When Gavin turned around to face her, she pointed to the front of the room where the teacher’s desk was. Gavin looked where she was pointing, and a new face was standing up there right next to the teacher.

The teacher introduced the new student, saying that he had just moved here. She crouched down to whisper something to him, to which he nodded and walked away without another word.

To Gavin and Lindsay’s surprise, he came over to their table. They watched silently as the boy pulled out the chair to the empty desk and sat down in front of them, staring right back at them.

Lindsay decided to speak up first. “So, you’re new here, right?”

The boy nodded.

“That’s cool. We’ll be friends with you, if you want.”

Another nod.

Lindsay frowned, staring back at the boy. “You don’t talk much, do you?”

“I do talk,” the boy said, feigning annoyance. “A lot, actually.”

Gavin’s face lit up as he heard the boy speak for the first time. He gasped, asking, “Wait. You’re English, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I am. My name’s Dan. Why, are you English, too?” Dan asked.

Gavin’s grin widened. “Yes! And,” he turned around to glance at the boys’ table again, “you see those boys over there?”

Dan stretched to look over at the boys, and they stared right back at him. “What about them?”

“They’re such jerks!” Lindsay complained. “They’re always making fun of Gavin—oh, that’s him, by the way,” she poked Gavin’s shoulder, “and they do it because of Gavin’s accent and stuff. It’s really annoying, but they won’t stop.”

“Really?” Dan asked.

Gavin sighed, nodding sadly. “I don’t know why. I moved here a while ago, back in kindergarten, and, all of a sudden, they started making fun of me. I really don’t know why. I never did anything to them, but suddenly they’re all on me like that. Just because I wasn’t from here, and I have an accent? Doesn’t sound right to me.”

“And no one cared to help?”

“Well, I did,” Lindsay answered. “And Michael, too.”

“Who’s that?”

“Doesn’t matter who he is, he’s not here right now,” Gavin said, without thinking much of it. “Besides, now that you’re here, maybe they’ll back off. That’s what they did when Michael was here, anyway, so it might work the same way.”

Lindsay wanted to say something to Gavin, to tell him that he shouldn’t be talking about Michael that way, but decided against it. Gavin was probably just excited and a little angry, anyway.

Dan shrugged, smiling at both of them. “If anyone picks on you, sure, I’ll help. We’re friends, right? Friends help friends.”

“Sure, friend,” Gavin replied, happy to finally say that word again to a new face. “What’s your name again? Just to be sure.”

“Daniel. Well, call me ‘Dan’, though. And your own?”

“I’m Gavin,” Gavin said, reaching for Dan’s hand. Dan took his hand, shaking it as he looked at Lindsay curiously. “Oh, this is Lindsay,” Gavin said as he cocked his head to the side, motioning to her.

“Hi,” Lindsay smiled, still a little hurt by what Gavin said about Michael. “Yeah, Lindsay, that’s me. It’s nice to meet you, Dan.”

Dan was about to say the same to her when the teacher announced that class was going to start. Class passed by quickly, but not quick enough for the trio—especially Gavin. Caught up in the excitement of a new friend and the possibility that the bullies would stop bothering him was too much for him to take in at once.

Gavin carried through class normally, doing his work and behaving how he should, but when he had some free time, he grabbed the opportunity to send a note or a silly face Dan’s way. Dan did the same, replying to the notes or throwing crumbled up paper balls at him. Lindsay rolled her eyes at how ridiculous they were being, but she couldn’t deny the fact that she was enjoying it as much as they were.

Eventually, lunch and recess came around and Gavin could not be happier. As soon as the bell rang, he grabbed Lindsay and Dan’s hands and led them over to the cubbies behind them.

Gavin quickly sifted through his things for his lunch, and he waited for the other two to finish. After they both had their lunches in hand, he led them over to the door where they could wait in line to go to the cafeteria as a group. He didn’t bother looking for the other boys today—they could think whatever they wanted to think. Now that there was someone there just like him, he didn’t have to worry about fitting into their standards.

They walked to the cafeteria all together, and sat at Lindsay and Gavin’s usual table. They ate first, Gavin eating so fast that he nearly choked while Lindsay scolded him for it, and then started talking about their likes and dislikes.

Gavin and Lindsay learned a lot about Dan. They asked him so many questions, and he did the same. By the end of lunch, they knew where Dan was from, his favorites from foods to colors, and that he liked to play video games, just as they did.

Gavin brought up the different kinds of video games he and Lindsay played, and Dan said those were his favorites. Naturally, Gavin suggested that he come over some time to play, and Dan accepted.

Recess came, and the three went racing out, ready to play with their new friend. Lindsay and Gavin grabbed a jump rope and a basketball and led Dan to their usual spot on the pavement. They started with the jump rope, Dan in the middle, laughing as they counted higher and higher.

The three boys came over at one point, like they usually did at recess, but Dan stepped up for Gavin before they could do any harm.

“So I heard you’ve been bullying him for no reason, except for the way he talks and what he looks like?” he asked, stepping away from the rope.

“Yeah,” the leader said, nowhere near as threatening as he once was. “What are you gonna do about it, new kid?”

Arms crossed, Dan stepped in front of Gavin. “Well, I’m gonna tell you that there’s a whole bunch of people that have accents. There’s me, him, and pretty much billions of people alive. So if you’re gonna bully him for that, why don’t you bully me, too? And all the other people with accents out there?”

“No way,” replied the shorter one. “We’re not gonna do that to anyone that didn’t hurt us first.”

“So why Gavin? What did he do?” Dan challenged.

“Yeah!” Lindsay stepped up. “He never did anything to you! What kind of messed up logic is that?”

“Well it wasn’t you, stupid,” the pretentious one added. “It was your other friend.”

“But you were bullying him before Michael came here!” Lindsay yelled. “So what do you have to say to that, huh?”

The three of them stared at Lindsay, offended but wordless.

“Or maybe you don’t have a reason, you were just jerks for no reason?” Lindsay asked, getting closer.

“Shut up! I don’t have to listen to you!” the leader said, pushing her. Outraged, she regained her balance and stepped up to him again.

“No, I won’t shut up!” she shouted furiously, shoving him back. “Not until you apologize to Gavin.”

“Yeah, right,” the leader said, turning to walk away. “Like we’d ever apologize to you, stupid.” Just like that, the three boys walked away, and they never bothered Gavin again.

Gavin ran up to face Lindsay and Dan, eyes heavy with tears. Starting to cry, he wrapped his arms around both of them, pulling the two into a hug. “Thank you guys,” he whispered, tears streaming down his cheeks. “Thank you guys so, so much for that.”

Lindsay sighed, her face softening into a smile. “Anything for you, Gav. I’m here for you. I told you that.” Her arms, too, wrapped around the two boys.

As Lindsay and Gavin’s hug tightened, Dan laughed as he joined into the hug. “So, I might have just gotten here today, but I’m happy you’re happy, Gavin. And you, too, Lindsay.”

Lindsay’s smile became a grin as her hug tightened into her very well-known death grips. “Aww! Dan, we’re super happy you’re here, too! I’m sure we’re gonna be best friends!”

Gavin wriggled out of Lindsay’s grip, laughing the whole time at Dan’s uncomfortable face. “Lindsay, if you keep hugging him like that, he won’t live long enough to be our friend.”

Lindsay gasped, letting Dan go as he took in a deep breath. “Oh, right. Sorry, not sorry.” She giggled as Dan narrowed his eyes at her jokingly.

“Aww, guys,” Gavin laughed, watching Lindsay and Dan get into a staring contest, “this is good. This is great.”

It was definitely better than great, as things were finally looking up for Gavin.

 

 

Michael wasn’t doing as great as he thought he was.

Kids can be cruel, can’t they? Nothing more than a little friendly banter, right? That old saying, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”, is always true, isn’t it?

Maybe kids can be cruel, but sixth graders had to be merciless.

At first it was only words. Rumors and insults, that’s all it was. The constant staring, teasing, and taunting. That was routine, and Michael was used to it. Yet things got worse as Michael grew older.

Sometime during fourth grade was when the bullying became a lot worse. Michael was getting sick of the name-calling, so he made the grave mistake of talking back to one of them. The kids didn’t see Michael’s rage as a message to back off. They took it as an invitation to get worse.

Then the kids started to attack. They would crowd around him, throw insult after insult at him, and they’d laugh. Some days it was so bad that he was brought to tears at school. If it wasn’t this awful, they stuck to what they did in previous years, but they had definitely become much more aggressive.

The worst part of it all was that his teachers didn’t seem to care about him much anymore. It was an everyday routine, anyway. Of course they would tire of it. Besides, he was just one student. What did he matter to them?

Michael tried his best to conceal what was going on from his parents, but they caught on soon enough. When they noticed their son was increasingly less and less interested in anything, when the light in his eyes went dim, and when they went to “wake” him and found him on his bed with red, puffy eyes, they realized something was going on.

Yet they never said anything to him, hoping that Michael would come to them first. What a mistake that was.

Eventually the only thing Michael was holding onto was Gavin and the hope of seeing him again. If only for Gavin, if only to see him again, Michael could do it. So he soldiered through the endless days.

The first day he encountered anything physical was in fifth grade. There was a new kid at school just before the year ended, and, of course, they heard about Michael right away. One of them came over to talk to him, and the conversation quickly spiraled downward. Michael yelled something back at the kid, telling him that they had better leave him alone, and the kid immediately punched him in the face.

The rest of the kids didn’t show him any pity. They laughed. Soon after, they had joined into it.

Michael was lucky that it was the end of the year, but the cruelty carried into sixth grade.

Kids were tripping him in the hallway, blatantly and openly bullying him no matter who was watching, punching him, kicking him, it didn’t matter. It all was happening to him and he couldn’t make them stop.

Every day it happened, and every day he went home feeling like shit.

At least the kids took breaks in the previous years. Now it was all the time that he heard them.

“What a loser. Doesn’t have any friends.”

“Hey, stupid! Why don’t you come over today? Let’s play pretend! C’mon, you’ve got the imaginary friends, we can use my little sister’s costumes!”

“Do you really believe that your little friend is real? There’s something really wrong with you.”

“Where’s your friend? Oh, right. They’re not real!”

Michael couldn’t take it anymore.

One day, he got home to his normal empty house, and he threw his book bag to the floor. He ran upstairs to his room, slammed the door shut, and lay on his bed. Immediately, he burst into tears, letting everything out.

Screaming and kicking, he did what he needed to do. Endless tears and years of pain that he could barely put into words were let out.

After calming down enough to think, he brought his knees to his chest, and thought for a long, long time. He cried for what he felt was hours, looking back on the previous years and all his thoughts, hopes, and dreams.

He watched as every single hope crashed and shattered before him, hearing the singsong voices taunting and tormenting him. He felt his heart grow heavy with the weight of that pain, loneliness, and suffering. He watched their faces, felt the pain all over him. The aching, the words, the feelings, the emotions, they all attacked him at once, and it was all too much to bear.

Knees still at his chest, he grabbed at anything, clawing desperately. His hair, his clothes, his bed sheets, and anything he could get his hands on. Anything, anything to remind him that he was alive and there, anything to bring him back to reality.

He was drowning, really. Drowning, sinking deeper in this sea of conflicting feelings and emotions.

Freezing in his frantic movements, he looked up and in front of him.

There he was. A vision of Gavin. Sitting there, staring back at him. So real, so tangible, as if he was really there. His hand outstretched, he reached for Michael’s hand, eager to calm his friend down and comfort him.

Michael screamed, and whether it was from surprise or from frustration, he wasn’t sure. But he was sure that he didn’t want to see that face ever again.

Kicking away at the vision in front of him, Michael yelled and screamed, throwing what he could in that direction. Pillows, clothes, even his blanket. It was all hurdled away from him.

“Get out of here!” He yelled, voice hoarse from crying. “I don’t want to see you ever again! All of this, everything is all your fault!”

He was crying hard, now. Face down, staring at his lap, hands shaking and gripping his hair. He kept yelling. “Can’t you see what you’ve done to me? Every day of my life, I go through all of this… All of this, it’s all because of you!”

Falling onto his side, exhausted, he kept mumbling on in-between heavy breaths. “I wish I’d never met you. I wish I’d never seen you. I wish… I wish I’d never talked to you that first day. Maybe I wouldn’t have all these problems.”

The vision of Gavin stared at him, wide-eyed and hurt, but Michael couldn’t care less. He wanted him gone.

“Forget about me. I’ll forget about you. I’ll never come back. Look at all this pain you’ve caused me. Can’t you see? Years and years of this, and what did you go through? Probably nothing, since you’ve been with… what’s-her-face? Whatever, I don’t know, and I don’t care. And I don’t care about you.”

Michael stared at the vision through blurry eyes, but he could tell what he was saying was hurting it.

Good. They were hurting him, too.

“Just… stay away from me. Maybe I’m crazy, maybe they’re right, and I don’t care. I don’t care about them. I don’t care about you. But I care about me. Stay away. Maybe they’ll stop bothering me about you. If you’re gone, they won’t have anything to complain about, right? So get out.”

Michael rolled over, facing the wall, away from the vision. He was tired. He was so, so tired.

“I’ve broken plenty of promises before. One more won’t hurt.”

Michael closed his eyes slowly, weary and worn out from everything. He fell asleep that way, and didn’t wake up until much, much later when his parents returned home.

At least he never saw or thought about that vision again.

 

 

Gavin had gone from two friends, to one friend, to two friends, to three friends, and ended up with too many to name.

He and Dan had become the best of friends, after they found out how much they had in common. Turns out, they both had strange obsessions with slow-motion, among the many other not as obscure interests that they shared. The two made a pact to film things in slow motion together someday, to show everyone how interesting it was. Or maybe it was just a silly dream they chased.

He and Lindsay were still good friends and had, in fact, grown much closer over the years. They still hung out with each other all the time, visiting each other’s houses almost every day of the week. They stuck together most of the time, sharing secrets and stories all too often. They were like siblings, quarreling over petty things but having such an unbreakable bond at the same time.

Somewhere along the line, a boy named Ray had butted his way into their trio. Sarcastic, funny, and also having an interest in video games, he was perfect. He easily befriended all three of them, and the four of them became their own little inseparable group.

Most of their classmates, too, had befriended all of them, but there was something interesting about Gavin, so Gavin seemed to be the leader of the group, or of the whole class, really. Gavin always thought that it was his accent, or how he looked, or maybe that he was able to conquer his childhood bullies (which, actually, happened to be the work of Lindsay and Dan, who he loved very much for). Whatever it was, Gavin went along with it, and the three others didn’t seem to mind it at all.

He saw his bullies every day, but they never bothered him again. However you looked at the situation, Gavin was winning.

So there they were, some weekend during the spring of sixth grade, all together at Gavin’s house. They were supposed to be working on a group project, but, of course, they weren’t going to be working on that until the day before it was due. It happened to be a sleepover that day, since they thought that they should at least do some of the work, and it certainly wasn’t going to be a Saturday night.

The four of them spent half the afternoon playing videogames mindlessly, yelling at the screen and laughing at each other when they messed up. Gavin sat on the floor closest to the television, with Lindsay sitting on the floor behind him, pushing her feet into his back. Dan sat on the couch, legs covering both seats, and Ray sat—lay, rather—next to Lindsay, staring up at the screen.

Gavin also had a new baby sister, Millie, who was just about two. She sat right in her big brother’s lap, staring at the game onscreen and laughing when Gavin messed up or made a noise indicating so.

Eventually they tired of that, so they settled for watching movies for the rest of the night. They started with comedies, then actions, and moved on to horrors as the night progressed.

They were lucky that the bedrooms were upstairs, or they’d never be allowed to watch a horror movie with Millie downstairs.

The four of them were scared a few times by the jump scares, but learned to expect them as the movie went on. Ray passed out quickly, and Dan followed shortly, leaving Lindsay and Gavin awake by themselves. Gavin shut off the television when Lindsay made it clear she wasn’t interested anymore, and they sat together, just talking, tired but not enough to sleep. After all, you didn’t sleep at a sleepover. You committed to it until you passed out.

They talked about stupid things, about serious things, and things that really didn’t even make sense. The conversations ranged from “What would you do in a zombie apocalypse?” to “What if you were a banana?”

Gavin could feel his eyelids getting heavier. He lay on the blanket set out on the floor, then, and Lindsay followed quickly. “I’m so tired,” he laughed quietly, voice laden with exhaustion.

Lindsay smiled, letting out a gentle laugh. “You can’t sleep. You have to wait. C’mon, Gavin, it’s the rules.”

“I know that, I’m trying,” he replied.

She laughed again before sighing deeply, thinking about something that Gavin wasn’t sure of. “Hey, Gavin,” she started quite seriously.

Eyes closed and smiling stupidly, he answered, “Yeah?”

“Do you ever, like, think about our future?” Lindsay asked hesitantly.

“Well, sure I do. Who wouldn’t?” Gavin wondered.

“How ‘bout the past?”

“I’d rather not, since you know why. But sure, why not?”

“So how much of the past do you remember?”

“You mean how far back?”

Lindsay paused, biting her lip. “…sure.”

“Uh,” he drawled out, thinking about it. Eyebrows furrowing, he answered, “Yeah… ‘m not sure. Maybe first grade? Kindergarten if I think hard enough.”

“How… how much of it?”

Gavin sighed. “Lindsay, what is the point of this?”

“Shh!” Lindsay hushed. Her voice lowering, she said, “Just, c’mon. Answer.”

Gavin stopped again to think. “I… I don’t know. Not a lot,” he said, shrugging and laughing quietly. “Maybe some faces? It’s not a lot, though.”

Lindsay closed her eyes and sighed contentedly. “Good. So… how do you think… Michael’s doing?”

“…what?”

Lindsay’s eyes shot open. “Um. Michael? Hello?”

Gavin’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Lindsay, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t remember a Michael.”

Lindsay huffed, rolling onto her side. “Forget it, Gavin. I knew it. I should have known. I should have stopped you, and I didn’t.”

“Wait, Lindsay—”

“Just forget I said anything,” Lindsay said. “Goodnight.”

“No, Lindsay, seriously,” Gavin pleaded, pushing up onto his elbows. He rolled onto his stomach, looking at Lindsay. “Really, c’mon. Is this a joke or something? Is he important? Really! I wanna know!”

“I said goodnight.” Lindsay wouldn’t reply to anything Gavin said after that.

Gavin rolled over, laying on his back, staring up at the ceiling. He wasn’t tired anymore. He needed to know who Lindsay was talking about, and why she got so mad when he didn’t know who it was.

Yet despite how much pleading and begging he did the next day, Lindsay refused to answer, much to, not only Gavin’s, but Dan and Ray’s confusion as well.

And that was the last the two of them had ever spoken of Michael.

 

 

He was fifteen now.

July 24 of another year, and it was his birthday. A whole fifteen rotations around the sun. Amazing.

Michael definitely stayed true to his word and never uttered a word about Gavin after he blew up that one day back in sixth grade. When people teased him about it, Michael acted like he never knew about it. He acted like he didn’t know what they were talking about. Eventually, he really did forget all about him. He couldn’t even remember his name.

It helped, for maybe a day or two. Then the bullying resumed, and even thought it wasn’t about his imaginary friend, it was more for just because. Because it was a habit, and they weren’t going to stop that easily.

Michael expected that, but at least there was someone else to blame, now.

School was still terrible, and the kids were still jerks. Now, it was easier to get through it, when what was weighing him down was gone.

He started hitting back. Started yelling back. It made him stronger, and he could survive. Even though it didn’t change that the kids were brutal.

At least summer was bearable. He didn’t have to go outside and face them, and, because of that, there he sat, on his fifteenth birthday, home alone and bored out of his mind.

He could play video games or something, but he’d been doing that all summer, so he wasn’t going to do that.

He could use the computer, but what was there for him to do? More video games? Nah.

He sure as hell wasn’t going to do any homework in July. Which also meant reading was out of the question.

And there was no fucking way he was going to step outside.

All in all, he was left with nothing to do.

Michael groaned, laying down on the green couch in the living room, flipping mindlessly through television channels. He settled on one channel but changed it every five minutes, so he didn’t pay much attention at all to the television.

Instead, he just slept. It was the best and the most appealing option after staying up all night focused on beating this one level in this one fucking video game—

Which, by the way, he didn’t even beat.

He woke up later when his parents got home from work. Looking up, he watched them walk in and greeted them. He hopped off the couch and walked over to them, both of them smiling at him and wishing him a happy birthday, which he thanked them for.

Since it was his birthday, Michael made an exception and decided to go out for dinner. They ate at an elaborate restaurant that Michael had never been to, and Michael joked about not being fancy enough to be there.

He spent the wait time coloring the kids menu and playing with straws, and his father joked, “I don’t think it’s that you’re not fancy enough to be here. I think it’s that you’re not mature enough to go outside.”

After dinner, his mother made a point that they should go get cake instead of buying dessert there, so they left without dessert and headed straight for the nearest place they could buy a cake from, which ended up being the supermarket.

Michael walked around the area for a while, looking at the cakes they offered behind the glass. He decided on a simple chocolate cake, since the others looked too busy or weren’t what he felt like eating. He had his name written on it, grabbed a pack of candles, and they left.

They had the normal ceremonial singing, candle lighting, and wish making when they got home. Michael didn’t know what to wish for, so he went for what he wanted, and that was the get away from every asshole in this town that had done him wrong.

After cake, his parents gave him his presents, and he opened them up right in front of them in the living room. Some new video games, clothes, and more junk that he didn’t really plan on needing or using. At the bottom of the pile, though, was an envelope.

That was new.

His parents watched with anticipation, grinning at each other and sharing knowing looks. Michael opened the envelope skeptically, staring at his parents the whole time.

“…plane tickets?”

His father nodded. “Isn’t it great?”

“What, is this like a vacation?” Michael wondered, watching him for any sign that this was a joke.

“No, no,” his mother replied, sitting down next to him. Michael scooted over, giving her more space. She took the tickets from his hands and showed him the destination. “We’re moving. To Texas. Isn’t that great? Aren’t you happy?”

“I guess?” Michael said, definitely happy that his birthday wish was coming true, but also confused. “Why Texas, though?”

“Don’t you remember?” his father asked, sitting on the free space next to Michael. “We used to live there, and we had to move here, because of my job. It might have been ten years ago, but you remember, right?”

“Aren’t you excited to see your old friends?” his mother asked.

Michael shook his head, standing up. “Wait, what? First of all, yeah, ten years is a long time. I don’t remember anything from Texas. I’m really happy that we’re leaving, but why so sudden?”

“We thought you’d be happy to get away from here. You are, right?” his father asked.

“Of course I am.”

“So then what’s the problem?”

Michael shrugged, piling up his gifts and getting ready to bring them upstairs. “I… I guess there’s no problem? I was just curious. I mean, this is all just really sudden, so I wanted to know. Is that so bad?”

His mother shook her head. “No. But we just… we thought you would be so much more excited. To see your old friends.”

“Mom, I was like five,” Michael laughed, carrying his things in his arms. “I’m not gonna remember anyone. I bet I’ll see them and won’t even know. Whatever, as long as we’re outta here. This place sucks.” Michael hummed, walking to the stairs. “Oh,” he stopped himself. “Wait. When are we leaving? Soon, right? You want me to start packing now?”

“Yes,” his father answered. “It’ll be early August, so if you could start now, that would be great.”

“Cool. And thanks for the great birthday!” he said, racing up the stairs.

Michael kicked open his door and dropped his new things onto the floor without ceremony. He moved over to the bed, and flopped onto his back.

So he was moving away, and would never have to see these assholes ever again. He’d be going back to his old town that he remembered almost nothing of. Maybe his memories would kick in again and he’d see some familiar faces or something.

Whatever he saw or remembered, he didn’t care about. The only thing that mattered was getting out of this hellhole for good.

 


	7. Lost Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***please understand that this part of the fic was written before kdin came out as trans, so she is referred to w he/him pronouns in this chapter (and i think like 1 or 2 chapters after this) she comes out as trans in chapter 12, and from then on she is referred to w she/her! 
> 
> i cant even... /begin/ to tell you guys how sorry i am. it was a huge mess, im not gonna lie, where i was busy with something, and then i had some anxiety problems, and then things continued rolling downhill.
> 
> it's ok tho, im fine now, im workin on some stuff and im gettin straightened out. no neeeeed to worrryyyyyy
> 
> needless to say, tho, LIAP won't really be finishing this summer and that sucks!!! but im gonna try my damndest to finish at least this year? if not then by the time spring rolls around, i guess it should be over.
> 
> i kno ive mentioned it before but yeah LIAP has a fic tag on tumblr so if you're ever curious mle and i use the tag "fic liapromise" !!! its usually only updated with new chapters but from time to time ill draw stuff/update on things

Moving to Texas was relatively easy for Michael.

Michael didn’t have anything to do during the summer, after all, so packing didn’t take him long at all. After practically destroying his own closet and scavenging for anything worth taking with him, he had emptied it within a couple of hours, minus the clothes he’d obviously be wearing for the remaining two or so weeks.

Hesitantly eyeing the haphazardly thrown belongings strewn over his bed, he weighed the options he had. Either he got straight to work and started sifting through his things now, or he pushed it off until he couldn’t ignore them any longer. Of course, if he chose the latter, he’d need to get to work with the normal every day chores, which he was just as willing to do as this.

With a groan, Michael gave in, and decided on going through his old things. Besides, there was the possibility that he might find something that he could entertain himself with other than video games or television. He sat down on his bed where there was some kind of free space available for him and started looking over all his things and deciding which were worth anything.

His work, though, turned out to be rather fruitless, as Michael found nothing of his interest. A couple of kid’s toys, some worn and torn clothes that were way too small for him to fit into anymore, and some old school work and projects that he’d stuffed away (most of them being bad grades that he didn’t want his parents seeing, even though they found out about them eventually).

His efforts weren’t entirely for naught, though, since Michael **_did_** happen to find **_something_** worth keeping. There were some video games, a board game, and one or two movies that had apparently ‘gone missing.’ The board games were obviously still usable, but the video games and movies had to be tested out. Surprisingly, they were in alright shape, so Michael decided he’d keep them.

His parents were more reluctant to get to it and start packing, so Michael agreed to help them out while they still had work. After waking up at one in the afternoon, Michael would pull himself out of bed and start by getting out the cardboard boxes. He’d then remove the numerous, useless books and knick knacks they owned off the dusty shelves they sat upon, and into the box they went. Anything of no use to them went into the box, and that was Michael’s decision as he cleaned up the house by himself.

It was simple work, really, since there were still two weeks until moving day. Michael didn’t have to do much, since the rest could be kept for the last week. Thing is, it kept Michael busy, and now that it was done, Michael was back to his first problem—having nothing to do. So he was back to his usual routine for a week: sleep, wake up, food, video games probably, angrily stare out the window, more video games, lay on the couch while the television plays in the background, longingly stare out the window, probably take a nap, get woken up by parents, dinner, probably use the computer until two in the morning, sleep.

By the end of the week, Michael’s parents had both left their jobs and had just around a week more at home. This time, of course, was spent packing their remaining things and doing the rest of the heavier work that Michael couldn’t handle alone. Soon enough, the only way Michael was able to get around his house was by traversing through maze after maze of towering columns of boxes in nearly every room.

Moving day came rather quickly after that. A moving truck came the morning before their flight, and Michael and his parents packed all their furniture and other belongings that they chose to keep into the truck. After about two hours, they had hauled everything into the box truck, and the truck was on its way.

All that was left was for them to get to the airport and fly there.

That, too, went very smoothly. They called a taxi cab and arrived at the airport earlier than Michael thought was necessary—Four hours? Really?—and waited until they needed to board. Getting to their terminal and pushing through security and all that wasn’t as bad as Michael imagined it would be, since they had gotten on the plane with little problems.

The flight was short—maybe three and a half hours—and they had arrived at the airport in Austin in the late afternoon. Michael called for another cab to take them back to their new house while his parents went off to grab their luggage. They had come back surprisingly quickly, telling Michael that it wasn’t as hectic as they had expected it to be, and they were outside and ready to go.

The ride wasn’t long at all, since they were living in the same town. Michael stared out the window for most of it, anyway, so time passed quickly for him. Before he knew it, they were already outside by their new home.

It was a suburban area where they would be living, and the houses weren’t too big, but it wasn’t like they were tiny. It was a simple area, really, with trees here and there, fenced yards, and all that perfect pristine stuff you see in the commercials, just less… pristine and perfect.

It wasn’t a bad place, though. Michael liked the house. It wasn’t the smallest house in the neighborhood, but it wasn’t too big. The siding was white, and the windows were shuttered. No garage, but there **_was_** a driveway. There was probably a backyard back there, since he could see part of the neighbor’s, but Michael had yet to see what was there.

Michael got out of the cab and immediately went to help his parents, taking their luggage and hauling it up to the front steps to the house. The pattern continued until they had gotten all their bags and suitcases out and off of the taxi and out on the lawn or the steps.

As soon as they finished, Michael hopped up onto the steps, pushing his suitcase aside and sitting in its place. Elbows on his knees, he leaned over and put his face in his hands, staring up at his parents.

Yet instead of telling Michael to get in the house and help lug their things inside, they informed him that they would be going around the area to say hello to their new neighbors. Michael insisted that he would join them, but they told him that he should stay back, get some of their things inside, and stay watch to wait for the moving truck to get there. Reluctantly, he agreed, and kept sitting where he was.

With that, Michael watched them walk off, knocking on each door and giving whoever answered a friendly greeting and a smile, to which the homeowner would nod and smile back, then politely shut the door after a few minutes of talking and conversing. Michael looked on as they continued on, seeing as they went by that way, two, three, four, even five houses later. By the sixth house down, he could barely see what his parents were doing anymore, but this time, he realized that they had been invited into the home.

Michael took that as his cue to get up and start moving, so he opened the door—his parents left him with a spare key—and started getting their things inside. Bag after bag, he got the things into the foyer at least, and decided that sitting out on the steps definitely beat sitting inside, staring at the wall.

He stepped outside, plopped himself down on the steps, and waited and watched for a truck or his parents, whatever came first. After what seemed like hours—half an hour, actually—his parents returned.

Michael asked who they met, but they kept rather quiet about it. A bunch of nice people, sure, but that wasn’t enough for him to be satisfied with. What kind of people were they? Were they creepy nice, or the “sure I’ll be nice to you but I wouldn’t go out of my way to talk to you” kind of nice? Questions that Michael’s parents never answered.

After that, the moving truck came, and they got all their things together within a week or so. Michael’s parents had looked into jobs in their area in advance, so job searching wasn’t entirely challenging. Michael went to his new school, saw his guidance counselor, took some tests, and got his courses. Summer assignments were simple, and he got those done quickly. Still, there was a week of summer to be spent.

At least Michael could leave his house without feeling threatened and scared, but there really wasn’t anything for him to do. He was still getting used to the neighborhood after all, and he didn’t have a clue of what was where. So instead of going outside and walking too far, he stuck to walking around the neighborhood. His parents thought that it would be good for him to do that anyway, since he’d probably meet some new friends.

Michael scoffed at the thought of it. He honestly doubted that after years of being tormented so severely that he’d be able to simply go out and talk to people. Sure, his social skills were lacking, but he never blamed himself for it. After all, all he wanted was to be nice. It was them that turned on him and made him this way.

As he walked along the sidewalk, he didn’t meet as many people as his parents thought he would. There was the occasional jogger or dog walker, but other than that, there wasn’t anyone willing to stop and say hello to him.

Coming back to his home, he spotted a group of teenagers walking in his direction. A part of Michael begged him to run that way and introduce himself, but another kept him rooted in his place. Conflicted, Michael struggled with himself to move forward and at least get home, but he continued watching the group.

There were four of them, talking and laughing, engrossed in themselves, and none of them seemed to notice Michael. Three boys and one girl, he assumed. Two of the boys, both dark haired but one taller than the other, walked in the back. The girl had bright red hair and a huge grin on her face. Her arm was locked with the final boy’s, the one with tan, messy hair.

As he saw the final boy, the nagging feeling became exponentially larger, and Michael couldn’t decide if he either really needed to get home or if he really needed to go talk to those kids.

Eventually, they turned away from him, and the boy whose arm was linked with the girl pulled out a key. Walking up to his home, or so Michael assumed, he unlocked the door and let his friends inside. As the boy closed the door behind him, that was the last Michael saw of the boy and his friends that day.

After shaking himself out of his thoughts, Michael headed to his home and got inside, wondering the whole while why he felt so drawn towards that group.

Michael still went outside after that, but decided against talking to those kids. It wasn’t because they didn’t look nice, but he was afraid to say the wrong thing again. It was mostly to protect himself, but if they talked to him, he’d have to put on a strong appearance. Strong, but not rude. Just enough to say “if you fuck with me, I’ll fuck you up.” Something like that.

After that strange incident, he never quite saw them again, and instead mostly saw the light haired one. He probably should have expected that, since that **_had_** to be his house they entered during their first encounter, but he did also catch glimpses of the red haired girl. Whenever they went out, though, they only ever walked along the sidewalk, or went somewhere else that Michael didn’t know the whereabouts of.

He found it strange that they never went in the backyard. Or, if they did, then it was rare and when Michael didn’t see them. After all, Michael’s own backyard was rather spacious, so he assumed theirs was as well. It was beautiful, too, with a large tree near the back and plants—maybe a garden?—near the back of the house. Whatever their reason was, Michael wasn’t going to ask.

The night before school started, Michael lay awake on his new bed, staring at the white ceiling above him. The clock sat on his bedside table yelled at him to sleep, but Michael wasn’t able to relax. Instead, he put his time to good use, and planned out his entire school year.

He started with the first day, obviously, on which he’d have to try his best to be nice. There was no way he was going to fuck this up, not again. Or so he hoped. Just smile and be polite, act friendly, do what normal people do when they meet new people. At the same time, there was no way he’d let anyone push him around. He wasn’t going to be treated as a doormat, letting people step all over him just because he was nice. He’d have to be strong and tough on the outside, but once he got to know people, he could be nice and friendly. Sort of like a turtle. Yeah. Sure. A turtle.

Another thought that crossed his mind was the boy living a few houses down. As he thought about it, he realized that there was no way that they wouldn’t be at the same bus stop. The fact that he spent the remainder of his summer practically stalking the boy didn’t help him much, either. Michael had to stop his strange obsessions with the kid, or at least suppress them. Just enough to seem normal enough, and not like some weird new kid that was bizarrely infatuated with him.

Just… act cool. Calm, cool, and… untouchable? Sure.

After that, Michael drifted off to sleep, but he didn’t sleep as well as he’d hoped he would.

The morning was easy, though. Get up, wash up and get dressed, eat something and feel disgusted, and mentally prepare for the day. Simple enough.

Michael headed out of the house and to the bus stop at the corner, pulling his backpack on and readjusting the strap. Walking slowly, but _just_ fast enough in case the bus appeared before he got there, he made his way towards the group standing at the corner.

There weren’t a lot of people there, Michael noticed. Two kids that Michael swore he hadn’t seen while walking around, another two that Michael had definitely noticed either jogging or dog walking, and, of course, the kid just six houses away.

None of the kids were talking to each other, as Michael noticed they were listening to music, reading, or just standing around and waiting. Michael looked at his choices, stood around for a few seconds, and decided on shuffling over to the side of the light haired boy.

Now that he was so close, Michael could get a closer look at him. The boy stood next to him, but didn’t seem to notice Michael standing there. Face down, he read a book, the cover of which Michael couldn’t see. Dressed in a green hoodie with the hood pulled over his head, Michael wasn’t able to tell if he was listening to music or not, but Michael wasn’t going to ask.

As Michael kept staring, the boy seemed to finally notice, as he looked to the right and immediately met Michael’s gaze.

**_Oh shit, oh shit, oh fuck, I fucked up bad—_ **

Michael quickly looked away and braced himself for the worst, be it a weird look or a confrontation, but the worst never came. He slowly turned back, peeking up at him, waiting for any kind of conversation. Instead, the boy stared at him a moment longer, eyes narrowed and brows furrowed in contemplation. At last, he grinned widely, fully turning towards Michael. “Hi!” he greeted. “You’re new here, I bet. Are you from the family that just moved in there?” he asked, pointing over at Michael’s house.

Michael followed his gaze, nodding as he answered, “Yeah, I’m new here.” He paused before adding, “And if you’re gonna act like a jerk, I suggest you stay the fuck away.”

The boy looked hurt, and Michael’s eyes widened slightly, afraid that he’d said the wrong thing. _Well of course you said the wrong thing, who the fuck would say something like that, look, there goes your first impression, you loser, you fucked up, you fucked up real bad—_

Instead of the obvious insult that he should have gotten in return, the boy laughed. “Wow. Tough one, aren’t you?”

Incredulous that the boy took no offense from that comment, Michael stared at him before replying, “Oh, uh. Yeah. Yeah, sure.”

Before the boy could say any more, the bus came around the corner, stopping right in front of the group. One after another, they boarded the bus, with Michael being the last on. Thankfully, there was an open seat, albeit right near the front. Even so, Michael had no problem sitting there, as long as he didn’t have to sit with anyone on his first day. That would be a nightmare.

Michael settled down in the seat and stared out the window, watching the scenery pass by, waiting for the bus to get to another stop for kids to get on. That stop never came, and Michael soon found they had already arrived at the school.

Michael went about his day completely confused. Orientation wasn’t as helpful as he thought it was, as he realized he hadn’t learned anything from it. He spent his entire day wondering, “Do I do this? Do I do that?” and eventually ended up following the crowd and mimicking everything everyone else was. Besides, it was easier than wandering around and seeming totally helpless.

At lunch, Michael decided he’d had enough, and went to talk to his guidance counselor. His guidance counselor agreed to give him some help, and for the rest of the week, or until he felt comfortable, he’d be given the company of another student to get him used to the school. They’d join him tomorrow, since Michael only had two classes left that day, and he’d definitely be able to get through that, even if he would still be confused.

The next day, Michael did as was told and went straight to the guidance counselors’ office before homeroom. There, he was told to wait, sitting alone in front of the main desk, staring at the blue walls and out the glass door, watching the other teenagers walk in and out of his sight, headed to their first class. He was brought out of his thoughts when another classmate walked up to where he was seated.

Michael looked up at the blonde, recognizing them as a student he shared some classes with. “Hi!” she greeted, sticking her hand out at him, waiting for him to take it. “I’m Barbara. You’re Michael, right?”

“Yeah,” Michael nodded, standing up and taking her hand. He shook firmly before letting go, looking to the door and back to her face. “So, are you going to be helping me?”

Barbara grinned, nodding back at him. “Yeah, I’ll lead you around and stuff. Y’know, tell you about the school, how stuff works around here, all that. Oh, but I won’t be the only one.”

“What do you mean?” Michael asked, picking up his backpack and throwing it over his shoulder.

Barbara shrugged, already reaching for the door handle. “I mean, we only have like, three classes together, maybe?”

She held open the door for Michael and he shuffled out, Barbara following right after. The hallways were near empty now, as first period was about to start, so the two of them basically walked the halls alone.

Michael thought about her statement and mentally counted the classes in which he had noticed her. “Yeah, I think it’s three. So what?”

“Well, if we only have three classes together, I’m not gonna be there in every class to help you out. So I think that along with me…” She stopped speaking, Michael watching her count on her fingers. She mumbled to herself quietly before looking back up at Michael, continuing, “Yeah, two others?”

Barbara looked at Michael expectantly, and Michael shrugged, nodding although he actually had no idea how many people would be helping him. “Okay, sure.”

“Well, I’ve got gym, bio, and English with you,” she pointed out as they entered the gymnasium. Students were scattered all over the bleachers, and the teachers were off to the corner, conversing with themselves.

Michael stood there awkwardly, not knowing where he should sit, now that Barbara was with him. It was easy enough for him the day before when he didn’t care and sat up front, but now he was at a loss. Barbara was already on her way up to the top, but when she turned around and saw Michael still at the bottom, she headed right back to him. “Aren’t you coming with me?” she asked, gesturing up the steps.

“Oh, you want me to go up there with you? Don’t you have people up there to talk to? I mean, it’s really okay, I’ll just sit down here,” Michael pushed through his sentences much less gracefully than he expected to. He tried to make an excuse for himself that he knew what he was doing, but secretly he was extremely grateful that Barbara offered to sit with him.

Barbara laughed, skipping off the final step and towards Michael. She took his arm without waiting for a response and led him up the stairs. “Of course I know some people, but I want you to come sit with us anyway, silly.” She looked back at him, a grin on her face. “And I’m not just doing this because I was told to. You’re a pretty nice guy. We could turn out being great friends, right?”

For the first time in a while, Michael’s face stretched into one of the widest grins he’d ever made. “Yeah, we could. Thanks.”

 

 

The rest of the day went better than Michael expected.

After Barbara left Michael by himself when Biology ended, Kerry met up with him and went with him to Spanish. They had three classes in a row together, and Barbara caught him right before English. From then until the end of the day, he stuck with Kdin.

Michael smiled softly to himself on the way home, remembering the course of his school day. It was made so much easier when he tagged along with Barbara, Kerry, and Kdin, and a lot was cleared up for him. They helped by explaining how things worked at their school, getting him used to the routine, and doing whatever they could to help him feel welcome.

Arm slung over his backpack at his right, he stared out the bus window, realizing that they did much, much more than just tell him about how classes worked.

_“Yeah, so school’s important and all, but how about friends? I mean, of course, I’m here, but there’s some other people you should meet. Just in case you, I don’t know, get bored of me.”_

_“You’ve heard about the stereotypical popular kids who are jerks and all, right? Yeah. Nope. Not here.”_

Kdin’s explanation was the best he’d heard that day, at lunch, when he slid behind Michael and pointed in front of him. _“See that guy? Yeah. Mr. Popularity over there. Oh, but, he’s friendly. No big deal.”_

Michael let out a quiet laugh, remembering what they’d said. They told him all about the popular kids, and how they were a huge group that wasn’t anything like the popular group back in New Jersey he’d dealt with. Instead, they were friendly and inviting. A huge bunch of hilarious people, or at least that’s what he’d collected from his three sources.

Apparently, the main ‘leader’—unofficially, since no one actually thought of him _as_ a leader, but it was easier to have that kind of system, so whoever they picked was picked and that was how it went—wasn’t even a senior, as Michael expected. Instead, he was a mere sophomore, as well as Michael. He had a fortress of friends that no one could get through, and basically built his kingdom from there.

When Michael asked why _he_ was at the top, and not someone else, he was told the same story each time. As a younger kid, he was bullied pretty hard. He took it for a while, but one day decided he had enough, and stood up for himself, or something along those lines. The rest of the kids developed some kind of respect for him, and his power grew from there.

 _“And that’s why,”_ Barbara explained, _“he’s so nice. I’m actually pretty okay friends with him, but not as close as the others. Maybe a year or so back, when we were just getting to know each other, I asked him about it. And he told me that he’d never want anyone to go through the feeling of being helpless because of someone with more power. He’d use the army of friends he had for good, not evil.”_

Michael’s smile broke out into a grin at that thought. _What a kind knight in shining armor,_ he joked.

It wasn’t until lunch that Michael learned this “knight” was the same green-eyed boy that lived down the street from him.

Kdin had pointed him out, so Michael immediately recognized him as the kid he’d met at the bus stop. _Maybe,_ Michael thought, _that’s why the guy was so tolerant of me when I had acted like a total jerkface._

The bus came to a halt by Michael’s stop, and he immediately dashed off the bus and towards his home. He caught a glimpse of the green-eyed boy when he looked behind him, but decided against starting a conversation and went directly for his house.

 _Whatever it was that made him give me a second chance,_ Michael hummed as he unlocked his front door and stepped in, _it wouldn’t hurt to make friends with the guy._

 

 

“His name?”

Barbara looked up at Michael questioningly, not understanding who Michael was referring to. She sat on the bleachers, pen pressed against a notebook—last night’s homework, Michael guessed—still staring at Michael with the same confused expression.

Michael looked back at her expectantly, but gave up when she shrugged. “No idea who you’re talking about, Michael,” Barbara said.

Michael sighed, sitting down next to her. Barbara placed her book on the seat to the side and turned to face Michael. “Gonna explain?”

“The guy,” Michael tried, pairing his enigmatic words with even more mysterious hand gestures as he attempted to communicate his thoughts. “The, uh, green eyes? Blondie?”

Barbara’s brow furrowed, trying to look serious, but the wide grin on her face said otherwise. “I’m pretty sure there are tons of blond-haired green-eyed boys in this school.”

Michael sighed again, hopefully sounding as exasperated as he felt. “You know! Mr. Popularity?”

Barbara groaned, rolling her eyes. “Really?” she tried to sound angry, but she was still smiling. “You could have started with that one first!”

“Whatever, whatever,” Michael waved his hand, trying not to get off topic. He had to know his name. Now. “Name, please?”

“Well, it’s Gavin,” Barbara said. “Last name’s tricky though.”

Michael, taking that second statement too seriously, looked at her unconvinced. “Are you really trying to tell me that his name is Gavin Tricky.”

Barbara started laughing outright at Michael’s misunderstanding. “No! No, no, oh, no,” she said between fits of laughter.

Michael tried his best to seem angry, but the faint pink on his cheeks exposed his embarrassment. “Okay, fine, mistakes, whatever, but it doesn’t matter, last name doesn’t matter, I just wanted his first name.”

Barbara was still calming down, hand on her stomach and the other wiping away fake tears. “Wow, that was great. But, uh, can I ask why you needed to know? I mean, you were so insistent. Why?”

Michael’s gaze shifted to the left as he told her the events of that morning.

Michael stepped out of the house that morning, ready to immediately go up to the kid and make a conversation. He’d even practiced inside, rehearsing his words and possible replies, just to make sure he wouldn’t fuck it up. Not like the other day.

It wasn’t until he got out there that Michael realized he had no idea what this kid’s name was.

He partially blamed Barbara, Kerry, and Kdin for not telling him, but also blamed himself for never asking.

Inwardly cursing, his smile fell, and he settled for awkwardly standing next to the blond again. Maybe, if Michael was lucky, he’d start up a conversation.

Coming out of his narration, he ended by saying, “Anyway, yeah, I didn’t really talk to him at all. As soon as I stood next to him, he sent me some sideways look, and continued reading the book he’s been reading, like, all week. So I thought, whatever, I’ll just get the guy’s name and talk to him tomorrow morning.”

Barbara grinned again, looking ready to start laughing again. “Really? You should’ve talked to him. He won’t kill you for bothering him.”

“It wasn’t _that,_ ” Michael defended. “I just didn’t know how else to get his attention. Like, poking him? Waving in front of his face? If someone did that to me, I’d get pretty mad.”

“You could have said excuse me.”

“I could have. But that was not something that crossed my mind.”

Barbara laughed, hand over her mouth to stop the giggles from seeping out, thinking she’d annoyed Michael enough for one day. “Then you’ve got no one to blame but yourself.”

“It was a stressful enough situation.”

Barbara rolled her eyes in mock annoyance. “Yeah, yeah. Anyway, like you said, just try again tomorrow, right? It’s not like one day will kill your chance at friendship.” She picked up the notebook again, and stared at the words on the page. “Now that I’ve helped you,” she mentioned, shoving the book Michael’s way, “you’ve gotta help me out with this biology stuff.”

Michael snickered, taking the book anyway. “Gladly.”

 

 

That day had gone just as smoothly as the day before. Or, at least, it was.

As soon as Michael and Barbara broke off after English, Michael was headed to Kdin’s class before they went to lunch together. Kdin caught him before he could get there, though, meeting him halfway through the hallway, telling Michael he had some business at the counselors’ office, but he swore he’d meet up with him in at most ten, maybe fifteen minutes. Michael nodded, telling him that he’d be sitting at their table, waiting for him. So he went ahead, and Kdin went off on his own.

Due to their little conversation, the hallway was emptier than it had been yesterday, so Michael took his time getting up to the cafeteria—absolutely not to waste time in the hopes that Kdin would meet up with him before he actually got there, no, no way—by walking much slower than usual.

It was nice anyway, leaving him to think by himself. He’d done it before, he’d do it now, too. Not that he’d been missing it, since having another voice to fill his head definitely beat his own, but it wasn’t like he had much of a choice at the moment.

“Hey, newbie!”

Michael’s head snapped up, looking for the source of the voice. To his left stood a group of boys, calling out to him and grinning, grinning the same shit eating grin he’d lived through years and years of seeing.

“What.” Infuriation took hold of him then, and his question came out as more of a statement.

“Jeez,” the main guy said, hands up in mock offense. “No need to be so rude.”

“I don’t think I called you a ‘newbie’,” Michael spat back, “so it’s not me being rude.”

The grin on the kid’s face had dropped into a half smile, but that couldn’t hide the spark of anger in his eyes from Michael. “Wow, what’s your problem? Just trying to make a conversation here.”

“Maybe if you wanted a conversation you could have said ‘hello’ like any normal person?” Michael argued. Deep inside, he knew he should have dropped the conversation, let him be and just try to be friendly with the guy. But now, now that he was this deep, he wasn’t going to let it go.

The guy rolled his eyes, smile back, but this time brought in with mocking laughter. “Really? It was just a joke! Learn to take one, maybe you wouldn’t be so uptight.”

Michael balled his fists subconsciously, turning fully to face them. “I can take a joke, and I can make one, too. I’m not the one here with a problem, because what you said wasn’t a fucking joke. Why don’t you just leave me alone?”

The main guy inhaled sharply, pretending as if he’d been hit by a heavy blow. Michael grit his teeth, holding himself back from delivering a real, physical one. “Ooh, the newbie thinks he’s some tough guy, doesn’t he?” The kids surrounding him started laughing, and Michael’s anger had escalated so high it was as if he could literally feel his temperature rising. “Bringin’ out the curse words, are you? What’s all the anger for? Why don’t you calm down, kid? You don’t wanna get in any trouble, do you?”

“Maybe you didn’t hear me,” Michael said, glancing over at the stairs. He wanted to get out of there. He _had_ to get out of there. “I want you to get the fuck away from me.”

“Maybe you didn’t hear _me_?” the kid retorted. “If you stopped, maybe you might avoid some problems. Many unwanted ones.”

Michael huffed, ready to turn away and get to the stairs. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure if I stayed around you, I’d get sucked into some problems I really wouldn’t want. So thanks for that advice! See you around, assholes! Let’s hope I never see you guys again.”

Michael hadn’t moved more than a few steps before he felt another cold hand grab his wrist. His head snapped back to the left, and, sure enough, the kid he’d just been arguing with had a pretty strong grip on his arm. “What the fu—”

“What did you call us?”

The kid cut Michael’s voice short, not that Michael felt like he could speak, anyway. The guy, now up close, was clearly taller than him—not that Michael was tall to begin with, anyway—and loomed over him menacingly. The sarcastic, joking atmosphere had dissipated, and a new, heavy fury had filled the air.

Michael stared up at the one with a grip on his arm, eyes widening with the feeling of fear threatening to overpower his rage. He struggled in his grip, wriggling his way out, but the steady hand held him firm. “Oh, no, you’re not getting away. Not after that.”

The kid glanced behind him, where two of the others stood. The remaining two surrounded Michael, backing him up against the lockers. Michael tried raising his other hand, trying to at least shove the kid back, but it barely did any damage. In fact, it probably only made him angrier, as he felt the grip tighten, especially when Michael thought it couldn’t get any tighter.

When the guy looked back at Michael, he let out a short, breathy laugh paired with that same shit eating grin.

“Get him.”

 

 

Meanwhile, two seniors walked the seemingly empty hallways, searching for the group of friends they always met up with before heading upstairs to lunch.

They kept each other in conversation, but still looked out for their friends. Not that they really _needed_ to, being that the other four were definitely very chatty and _very_ loud. Even if they were screaming, they’d be able to hear them at least a hallway or two away.

“Do you ever think about why we’re friends with those guys, anyway?” the taller of the two asked. “I mean, they’re two years younger than us. You’d think we’d have friends our own age?”

“Eh, I don’t think about it that much,” the other said. “Besides, the younger they are, the longer they’ll live.”

The first started laughing, almost doubled over from the sudden attack. “Oh, God, that’s probably the creepiest thing I’ve ever heard out of your mouth, Ryan.”

Ryan laughed, too, continuing on. “It was the first thing to come to mind.”

“Yeah, and then we can become supreme overlords and harvest their youth for our own!” he kept laughing, having to stop in the middle of the hallway.

“No, okay, I want you to look back at that sentence and ask yourself why you called _me_ creepy, Jack,” Ryan laughed, going over to his friend, asking if he was okay.

Jack straightened up, still laughing, but trying to calm himself down to continue walking. He started to say something, but stopped in favor of listening to the sound of struggle coming from around the corner.

Ryan cocked an eyebrow at him. “What? You hear them?”

“No, no, I don’t think so,” Jack replied, shushing him and looking around the corner. As soon as he saw what was going on, he gasped, body tensing.

“Jack?” Ryan questioned, already heavily concerned. “What’s going on?”

Jack shuffled back, shaking his head, his surprised expression quickly becoming a frown. “They’re beating a kid up over there. We have to go help him.”

Ryan stared at him, confused, but clearly angry. “Wait, what? Who—”

“Boo!”

Ryan jolted, turning to who he knew would be standing right next to him, huge grin and sparkling green eyes. “Jesus, Gavin, every single time! _Why **?**_ ”

Instead, Gavin giggled, and Ryan looked behind him for the rest of his crew, but they weren’t there. “It’s hilarious! You always have the same reaction, and I do it all the time! Will you never learn, Ryan?”

Ryan rolled his eyes, but laughed anyway, going to nudge Gavin’s side with his elbow. Gavin grinned, rubbing his side, and looking to Jack. He looked significantly less angry, but he still wasn’t smiling.

“You okay?” Gavin wondered, eyes full of sincere concern. “Anything bothering you?”

“As a matter of fact, yes,” Jack returned, sounding angrier than he expected. “There’s a kid over there, and he’s getting beat up. Ryan and I were just about to go—”

Gavin’s look of worry melted right into one of pure infuriation. “What? Where? I’ll stop them. They’ll listen to me.”

Jack cocked his head to the side, pointing behind him. “Right behind here, I don’t know how long it’s gone on, though.”

Gavin didn’t hear the last part of Jack’s sentence, though, since he was already on his way over there. Storming off, Ryan went after him, and Jack followed suit.

The kid they were currently fighting—beating up, really—was up against the wall, fighting back the best he could. He was outnumbered, though, being that the fight was three to one, with two others standing back and watching.

The kid wasn’t yelling or screaming for help, like any other sane person would. Instead, the noise he made consisted of groans and heavy breathing, aside from the obvious sound of hits and kicks.

Gavin watched the fight for a good few seconds before he intervened. Normally, he would have stepped right in to stop them, but he found himself watching the kid’s resistance and resilience. It was something he hadn’t seen from any other previous victims—some different kind of bravery that he’d never encountered.

Soon enough, he was brought back to reality as he felt Ryan and Jack smack into his back, and Gavin pushed forward, getting right into the scuffle. Seeing an opening between the kid against the wall and the group, he pushed right in, stepping in front of the kid to stare right at the guy in the middle of the three. “What do you think you’re doing?” he asked, menacingly.

Taken aback, the middle guy stumbled backwards, staring back at Gavin with wide eyes. “I— It was this kid! He was being some rude jackass for no reason, I couldn’t just walk away from that!” he defended himself.

“Sure you did,” Gavin rolled his eyes. “Seriously? This isn’t the first time you’ve done this. You could have just backed off, let the kid go.”

“And why’s all the blame on me?” he asked angrily.

“Well, you _did_ just admit to ‘not being able to walk away’, so…” Ryan mentioned, walking up to help his friend.

At a loss for words, the guy stumbled over his words for a few seconds before finally giving up. With a scoff, he motioned for his group to follow him, and they were out of their sights.

Gavin rolled his eyes again, turning halfway to the right, just to face Ryan, first. “And remind me why we haven’t told anyone about that guy again?”

Jack had stepped into the conversation, and, with a shrug, he answered, “Who knows? We should though, shouldn’t we? How ‘bout we do it if this guy here got any bad damage done to him.”

Gavin nodded, turning around to face the bullied kid. The kid was looking down at the floor, still trying to catch his breath from the intense fight he was just in. “Well, I’m Gavin! And Ryan and Jack, of course,” he pointed to the two of them, each giving a little wave. “Sorry you got into such a bad fight.”

The kid shook his head. “No, it’s okay. I guess… I guess I coulda avoided it. And, I’m Michael.” Michael finally looked up at Gavin at that point, and he tried his best to give a little smile, hopefully communicating that he wasn’t beaten up too bad.

Gavin took a good look at the kid’s face, which was a little bruised, but nothing too bad that couldn’t be fixed with a little band aids or something. He stared a little longer than was probably acceptable, but there was something about Michael that Gavin couldn’t shake off. His blatant staring continued, and Michael seemed to be trying to shrink away from Gavin’s gaze, but pressed up against the wall, there wasn’t much for him to do about it.

At last, Gavin gave a sharp gasp, finally realizing what it was about Michael that he was so hung up on.

“Wait a minute, I _swear_ , I know who you are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mmm i like that ending for this chapter what do you guys think??
> 
> oh!! if you caught on (since its so obvious) yeah michaels a lil socially anxious. i thought that would make sense bc bullying?? but uh idk


	8. Revisited Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as an asshole, i would like to apologize for everything: aka, it has been about 3 months, and i am the shittiest shitlord there possibly could be
> 
> however we made it kids. we are alive and well.
> 
> ????? memories ?????????? how does a brain work, i will never know
> 
> CHAPTERS ARE SO HARD TO TITLE but if u see the title then yeah everything will be understood forever

Gavin watched Michael expectantly, obviously waiting for some sort of agreement, but there was nothing Michael could give. He had no clue what Gavin was talking about, or even what he was expected to say. Instead, he stared at Gavin questioningly, eyes narrowed in confusion.

Gavin’s smile faltered, realizing that Michael honestly had no idea what he was talking about. “I… really?” he tried again, hoping that with more detail, Michael would understand. “You can’t remember me? I know it’s been a little bit since we last talked, but how could you forget me so soon?”

Michael’s gaze darted from Gavin’s face to both sides of his head, looking to Jack or Ryan for help that couldn’t be given. “I, uh—”

Behind him, Jack sighed. He stepped forward and clapped a hand onto Gavin’s shoulder, causing him to break his gaze away from Michael. “Alright, c’mon. You’re freaking the kid out.”

“Maybe, I don’t know, an _elaboration_ would be nice in this situation?” Ryan offered with a shrug, also moving closer to Gavin’s left side.

Gavin nodded, much less enthusiastic now. “Well, maybe it’s not terrible that you forgot. Really, though, you’re at my bus stop, aren’t you?” Gavin tried a third time, finally with an actual explanation that Michael could understand. “We had a short conversation, but it was still nice, don’t you think?”

Michael exhaled as if he’d been holding his breath the whole time and started giggling. Gavin’s eyes widened in surprise, and Michael’s giggles became louder and louder. “Oh!” he exclaimed, giggles quickly becoming laughter, leaning forward with his hands on his knees. “Oh, yeah, I know you, too! I thought you were gonna start talking about something like, I don’t know, stalking me maybe?”

Jack started laughing outright, shaking Gavin’s shoulder where his hand still was. “No, oh, no, he’s not the type to do that.” Sending Ryan a teasing glance, he spoke warningly, “Ryan, though…”

Ryan rolled his eyes, putting up his hands in his own defense. “Hey, I haven’t even _done_ anything yet! It’s you guys who are always accusing me of being creepy and all that.”

“ _Yet_? Doesn’t that mean you have something planned?” Michael teased.

With a mischievous grin, Jack looked toward Ryan, embarrassing him further. “Yeah, Ryan,” he sing-songed, “what have you planned for us?”

“I have _nothing_ planned!” Ryan defended himself. “So a cow finds its way into my house and doesn’t leave. I stick it in a hole because I’m so tired of it blocking the goddamn door, and suddenly I’m the creepy one?”

“To be fair, Ryan, that’s kinda creepy. Even if it _was_ in a video game,” Jack laughed.

“What was I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know, let it _free_?”

“I gave it ample opportunity to leave! Left the door open, tried to push it out, all kinds of stuff! It _never fucking left_ ,” Ryan explained, pausing in between the last few words.

While Ryan and Jack continued their argument, Michael noticed Gavin had been staring at him. It was too much to be considered a friendly glance, and it was starting to make Michael uncomfortable. Instead of confronting him on it, Michael placed the blame on Gavin’s concern for his bloody nose and bruising face.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough,” Gavin stepped in, just as Ryan was saying how killing the cow would have given him an even worse time than he was having now. He turned to Michael, already reaching for his arm. “Let’s get you to the nurse, where we can get you fixed up. Come on, we’ll show you the way,” he spoke, already deciding that Michael’s answer would be yes.

“What? No, no, it’s fine, I’m okay. I don’t need a nurse,” Michael quickly said, tugging his arm out of Gavin’s hand. He stood still where he was, glued in place and refusing to leave.

Gavin shot him a skeptical look, closely examining Michael’s face. “Are you sure? You look pretty bad. Besides, even if you’re saying it’s fine, it could be worse later. It’s better if we just take you now.”

Michael shrugged, wiping his face, even though the blood had dried by then. “It’s not that bad, really, I swear. Besides, it’s not like this is the first time I’ve been beaten up.” He grinned at Gavin, offering the statement as a joke instead of a tear jerker. Gavin knew better, though, and Michael’s eyes revealed that it really did sting to have to say it out loud.

“That doesn’t mean it hurts any less,” Gavin argued. “So I’m taking you to the nurse. Please, let me do that much for you.”

Michael shook his head, raising his hands as if to push Gavin away if he got any closer. “Really, really, I swear. I’m totally fine. Thanks for caring and all, but I promised I’d meet this guy up in the cafeteria, so really—”

“Can’t you just send him a text?” Jack offered. “Or a call, even. I’m sure he’d understand that after a fight like that, you’d really need to go to the nurse.”

Michael grimaced, his hand going to the back of his neck. “Yeah, well, I _would_ …” he drawled out, “but, thing is, I sorta don’t have his number.”

“What?” Gavin asked. “You’re his friend, and you don’t have his number? How could you reach him, then?”

“Well, ‘friend’ is sorta ambiguous, but…” Michael mumbled, hoping it was quiet enough for Gavin not to hear.

“What?”

“No, no, trust me, it’s nothing,” Michael was quick to shrug it off. “Anyway, bottom line is that I don’t have the guy’s number.”

Gavin narrowed his eyes, staring at the ground, looking for a solution. After a second, he looked back up at Michael, asking, “What’s his name, then? If he’s in our lunch period, I probably know him.”

“Oh, uh, it’s Kdin,” Michael answered.

“Oh!” Gavin smiled. “Kdin? I know him!  We’re pretty good friends! He was telling me about this new friend he met the other day. I guess that’s you!”

Michael stared incredulously at Gavin. _The friend that Kdin met the other day._ “Uh, I guess so. Unless he met some other kid lately.”

“Nah, I doubt it. If he did, he would’ve told us or something,” Gavin explained, grabbing Michael’s arm again. “Anyway, look, I know Kdin. And he’ll understand if I take you to the nurse. Besides, I’ll send him a text or something, he’ll get it. I swear!” To prove his point, Gavin crossed his finger over his heart. “Please let me take you to the nurse.”

Michael sighed, relaxing in Gavin’s grip. “Okay. Fine. Take me.”

“Great!” Gavin grinned, already getting ready to tug Michael along. “So we’re going to the nurse, then?” Gavin asked, turning to the seniors behind him.

“I wish I could, Gavin,” Ryan said, “But lunch is almost over, and Jack and I are on the other side of the building next period.”

“Shit, it’s that late already?” Jack asked, getting a nod from Ryan in response. “Yeah, we’re sorry Gavin, but we’ve got like five minutes. If we’re gonna make it and eat our lunch, too, we’ve gotta go now.”

Gavin shook his head, stepping back. “Nah, I get it. You guys should go, then. Don’t want to be late, do you?”

“Well, it was nice meeting you, Michael,” Ryan smiled, holding out his hand for Michael to take. Michael did so, although tentatively, and Ryan’s smile widened. “Maybe we’ll see you at lunch tomorrow?”

“Yeah, and hopefully that black eye of yours won’t look as bad as it’s looking to be right now,” Jack joked, clapping a hand on Michael’s shoulder, giving him a shock. “See you tomorrow! C’mon, Ryan.”

Ryan nodded, giving a final goodbye, and went after Jack. The two of them ran up the stairs and were out of their sight.

“C’mon, they weren’t joking.” Gavin nudged Michael’s side, getting Michael to follow him. “Lunch’ll be over soon, so the quicker we get to the nurse, the better.”

“Yeah, okay,” was Michael’s simple reply, and the two walked the empty hallways together. The walk was mostly quiet, but Gavin insisted on making conversation with Michael. He started with the basics, asking things like “how’s school so far,” or “how old are you—wait, bad question, sorry, I should know that.” They were questions that Michael either snickered at or offered one word replies to.

When they got to the nurse, they were very surprised to see Michael’s face so beat up and bloodied, but they immediately got him the care and aid he needed. Before Michael knew it, he was bandaged and washed up, resting in a chair in the small room. The bell had rung a few minutes ago, so there weren’t any students in the room except for him. And then there was Gavin, who decided to stay for a while, just to make sure he would be okay.

He leaned against the wall, right next to Michael’s chair, staring. Not at the floor or the ceiling like any other person would, but at Michael.

Michael had noticed Gavin’s staring earlier, but it wasn’t getting any less creepy. It worried Michael terribly, and it made him wonder exactly what it was that Gavin found so interesting about him. After all, Michael was just some kid that Gavin saved from some assholes looking for a fight. He held no special meaning to Gavin.

But Michael would be lying if he said he found nothing interesting about Gavin. Gavin made Michael feel things he could never explain. When Gavin spoke, Michael felt like he was being torn apart. His stomach twisted, yet it was filled with butterflies. His head swam with indescribable thoughts, but he felt so lightheaded he could hardly breathe.

It was different. Something he’d never experienced before for sure.

Apparently deciding to start with some questions again, Gavin asked, “Michael, have you made any friends yet?”

Michael scooted over in his chair to give himself a bit more room to look up at Gavin. “What do you mean?”

Gavin shrugged. “It’s self-explanatory enough, isn’t it? There must be _someone_ you feel like you’re friends with.”

“Not really?” Michael more asked than answered. “I mean, Barbara, Kerry, and Kdin are all nice, and they’re great, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t feel like we’re that close.”

“Why not? Kdin thinks that you two are friends.”

Michael hummed, unable to translate his thoughts to words. “It’s… I don’t know. I feel like I can’t. Not yet, at least.”

“When’s it enough time to call them a friend then?”

“Maybe when they tell _me_ that they feel like we’re friends.”

Gavin nodded slowly as he took in the information. “In that case, _we’re_ friends.”

Michael shot him an incredulous look. “ _What?_ ”

“We’re friends. That’s all.”

“I’ve known you for, like, ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes is enough for me to consider us friends,” Gavin smiled. “What is it? Don’t like being friends with me?”

“No, no!” Michael said, waving his hands, doing away with his words. “I mean, ten minutes isn’t a lot of time. Are you sure you really want to be friends with me?”

“Well, why not, right?” Gavin grinned. “I like you. And ten minutes isn’t a lot, sure, but I like you. You seem nice, you seem funny, and you’re probably an alright guy. And, if no one else decides to be friends with you, well, I am. Hey, and if people are like, ‘haha, that kid has no friends’, well, we can just laugh at them because you’ve got me, and they’re totally wrong.”

Gavin watched Michael expectantly for the second time that day, waiting for an agreement. “So what do you say? From now on, let’s be friends, yeah?”

Michael’s face went from total confusion to what was probably the strangest mixture of sadness, joy, and relief that Gavin had ever seen. “I… Yeah,” Michael barely whispered, breathless from what Gavin had just said to him. “I think that I’d like that. But in that case, I want you to know something.”

“Sure,” Gavin agreed. “If it’s a secret, I won’t tell anyone. I swear.”

Michael shook his head, still smiling. “It’s no secret.”

“Alright then, tell me.”

“This is probably the saddest thing you’ll ever hear, but I… I think this is the first time someone has actually told me that they wanted to be friends with me.”

Gavin frowned, and Michael knew Gavin realized just how terrible Michael felt to actually acknowledge that. Even worse to say it out loud to someone he’d just met. “Well, that’s fine. Maybe you’ve never really had a true friendship before. But what’s it matter? You’ve got me now, don’t you?”

Michael laughed, and for the first time that day, it was a real, genuine one. “You’re right. It doesn’t matter, now that I’ve got you.”

Gavin gave his own little laugh after getting over his initial shock at Michael’s. “This sounds like such a sappy romance novel kind of scene.”

Michael shrugged, snickering at the thought. “Who cares. I couldn’t care less about how sappy this is, I’m just happy that there’s someone out there that actually gives a shit about me.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah,” Michael nodded. “And it’s you.”

 

 

The next day, Kdin spent the entire walk up to the lunch room lecturing Michael. That is, if going from overly-protective father figure to extremely apologetic child counted as a lecture. In that case, yes, that was what it was.

“I feel really bad about yesterday. I really should’ve just made you come with me, and then we wouldn’t be stuck in this mess,” Kdin apologized, for what seemed like the umpteenth time. Kdin seemed angrier with himself than Michael, or even the kids who beat him up.

Michael hummed, letting Kdin yell at himself, but only for a moment before he started convincing him otherwise. “Really, dude, it’s fine. It’s not like you or I knew it was gonna happen, so there’s no one here to blame. Trust me, man, I’m fine.”

“You sure?” Kdin asked with remorseful eyes.  “I mean, the guy got you so bad that you were in the nurse's office for half an hour. And the bruises are still a little dark," he mentioned, gesturing to Michael's face.

"Kdin, I don't know if you're aware of this, but purple bruises take a lot more than a day with some ice to heal,” Michael teased, laughing as he pushed Kdin’s hand away. “These are gonna be here a while, man. Get used to ‘em.”

The two entered the lunch room and squeezed through the bustling crowd of students. It was a struggle to keep up with each other, but for the most part they were able to get through with little trouble.

Catching up to Kdin, Michael shrugged off his backpack and dropped it in the seat next to his. He was about to sit down when Kdin stopped him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Michael turned to look at Kdin, and Kdin stared at Michael with an unreadable expression.

After a long pause, Kdin finally spoke. “Listen, okay, I’m sorry. But it’s just that I finally decided that I’d go out and do something nice for someone, and I fuck it up and they get hurt the, what, second day?” Michael shrugged, and Kdin took that as a signal to continue. “I just feel really bad about everything, okay?”

“I know, I know,” Michael laughed, shrugging Kdin’s hand off his shoulder. “But I already told you, it’s not like you could have prevented it, since you didn’t see it coming or anything, right? Just don’t worry about it.”

_Besides_ , he thought, _If that fight never happened, I don’t think I’d ever have talked to Gavin again._

But he wasn’t going to say that out loud.

Kdin sat down, unzipping his bag and taking his lunch out. “I know you’re right, really. And I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. But I am, and…” He let his sentence trail off, not bothering to finish it. “I don’t know, just, whatever, forget I said that.”

“If you say so,” Michael shrugged it off, plopping himself down in the seat next to Kdin. “Just don’t hurt yourself too much over it. What’s done is done; you can’t go back and fix it, no matter how hard you want to.”

“Ouch,” Kdin winced. “That was,” he trailed off, fumbling for the right word, “ _unexpectedly_ upsetting.”

“I mean, you spend like, what, a lifetime living with that mindset and it sorta just sticks with you. You learn to live with it, I guess. That’s the best way I can describe it,” Michael tried to explain, searching his pockets. With a gasp, he stood quickly, patting himself down wherever there was a pocket.

“Something wrong?” Kdin wondered, standing to look over Michael’s shoulder as he checked every pocket on his backpack. “What’s up?”

“Shit,” Michael hissed, angrily zipping up the pocket on his backpack he was just searching. He dropped himself into his chair, clicking his tongue. “I—“

“Michael!”

Michael stopped himself and turned to the left, looking for the source of the voice, eyebrows furrowed and incredibly confused because A, it had been like, what, a week, and he knew absolutely no one that would be looking for him, and B, why would anyone be looking for him in the first place?

Instead, Michael jolted as a hand was placed on his shoulder, head snapping to the right as he locked eyes with Gavin, who grinned down at him. “Hi, Michael! I didn’t realize we sat so close together,” he said, gesturing over his shoulder to the table a few rows back, crowded with people. “C’mon! Why don’t you sit with us? It’ll be fun!”

Michael opened his mouth to say something, but slowly closed it as he slowly turned to look at Kdin. “I—I would, but, I’m sorta sitting with Kdin here,” Michael answered apologetically, giving Kdin a small smile.

Instead of agreeing, though, Kdin shook his head. “Nah, Gavin’s right. Let’s just sit over there.”

Eyes widening, Michael asked, “Wait, what? Really? You’re okay with that?”

Kdin shrugged, already getting to his bag. “Uh, yeah. Why not, right? I’ve got friends sitting over there, anyway. I’ll sit with them.” He pulled it onto his back, straining his neck to search for the friends he was talking about. He grinned, and looked back at Michael. “Yeah, they’re over there. Oh, and you can sit with us if you want, or just sit with Gavin.”

“No, I’ll sit with you if you want me to,” Michael offered.

“It’s fine, man. Since you’re already, er…” Kdin gestured to Gavin’s hands, still on Michael’s shoulders as he leaned over him. He grappled for the right word to use without sounding strange, settling for, “Incredibly close with each other.”

Michael stared at Kdin for a moment before registering the weight on his shoulders. He looked behind him, expecting Gavin to remove his hands, but Gavin simply laughed, “Oh, right. I’ll do this a lot,” was all he said.

Kdin snickered, shaking his head as he readjusted the backpack’s straps. “He’s not even joking. You’ve got yourself a clingy child on your hands now.”

“Well, it’s not like it’s bothering me, so I don’t care. But, uh, if you could,” Michael gestured to his shoulders, making a shooing motion, “you know, so I could get up. That would be great.”

Gavin quickly complied, removing his hands so that Michael could stand. “Sorry about that.”

Michael had already stood up with his backpack slung over his right shoulder. He held the strap with one hand, and waved off Gavin’s apology with the other. “No, you’re fine. No, no, I mean, it’s fine. Not that you’re…” he waved his hand frantically, searching for the right word to use. “I mean, I’m just, whatever.” He let his hand drop, huffing in frustration. “Let’s just get to your table, yeah?”

Michael watched Gavin’s face for a confirmation, but got a sight of him doubled over in laughter instead. “Gosh, Michael!” he exclaimed, continuing to laugh. “You’re so jumpy. It’s alright, yeah?” Gavin asked, grinning.

“Yeah,” Kdin jumped in, moving next to Gavin. “Besides, you basically just called him _pretty_. He loves that. He is the exact _opposite_ of angry,” he pointed out, flashing a mischievous grin at Gavin, to which Gavin gave a shrug.

With his arms crossed, Gavin scoffed, starting to walk over to their usual table. “I wouldn’t say I love it, Kdin!”

“But you were happy about it!” Kdin laughed, going after him. “You didn’t deny it!”

“Whatever, it’s not like Michael even meant it that way, now did he?” Gavin retorted, turning his head to face Kdin.

“But it’s not like I don’t think it,” Michael mumbled softly.

“Ha!” Kdin yelled after somehow hearing Michael’s voice, much to his disappointment. “But he thinks it, so that’s gotta count for _something_!”

As if Gavin hadn’t heard the second part of Kdin’s sentence, Gavin almost turned around completely, meeting Michael’s gaze nearly immediately with questioning eyes. “You—”

“Hey, look, it’s new people!”

Gavin turned to the source of the voice, and his face brightened up instantly. “Oh! Yeah. Well, you’ve met Kdin.” Kdin smiled from behind him, giving a little wave. Gavin laughed and pushed him away to the middle of the table where his friends were sitting. “Yeah, bye, Kdin.” He laughed again, interrupting his next sentence when Kdin waved both his hands in the air as he walked away.

Michael shifted closer, laughing quietly at Kdin, and Gavin refocused himself. “Well, this is Michael,” he introduced, putting a hand on Michael’s shoulder to pull him closer.

Michael stayed silent, looking to Gavin for instructions that never came. He cleared his throat and looked on to the crowd of people staring at him, attempting some sort of introduction. “Uh, so I’m Michael, which you already knew. And, uh, yeah. I’m new.”

Gavin shook his head, and Michael gave him a confused look. Gavin met his gaze and whispered, “Get ready. They’re about to ask you tons and tons of questions.”

Michael swallowed hard, nodding. “Okay.”

He wasn’t okay. He was very, very far from okay.

Gavin moved forward to clear some space for the two to sit. He did so by half asking, half shoving people out of the way. When he deemed the space large enough, he pulled Michael’s arm forward. Being that Michael had previously been glued to the spot he stood on, he fell forward, falling into Gavin’s arms with a yelp.

Finally registering what had just happened, he stood and straightened himself. He apologized over and over for his mistake, refusing to meet Gavin’s eyes. “Sorry, I’m sorry, dude, I wasn’t expecting that, sorry.”

Gavin totally disregarded the apologies. He placed a hand on Michael’s arm and, this time, tugged him forward much more gently. “You okay there, Michael? I didn’t mean to shock you. Thought you would know I was gonna do that.”

With a heavy sigh, Michael shrugged and sat down, preferring not to embarrass himself any further. “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

“Anyway,” a voice from across the table drawled, “I hear you’re new here, Michael?”

The barrage of questions had started.

Michael looked at the one speaking—that taller kid with brown hair, probably older than him, that he had seen walking around with Gavin during the summer—and answered, “Oh, yeah.”

“Where from?” asked another, much shorter, kid with glasses that he’d also seen during the summer.

“New Jersey. Just moved this summer,” Michael answered simply.

To save Michael from the never ending questions he would get otherwise, Gavin stepped in. “Alright, alright, if you keep going, you’re gonna kill the kid. Why don’t you introduce yourselves?”

“Right, right,” the taller one nodded. Leaning back in his chair, he placed a hand on his chest, grinning. “I’m Dan. Just a sophomore.”

The shorter kid next to him scoffs, leaning back as well. “Yep. Dan, just the sophomore. The perfect sophomore with perfect grades that does sports and clubs and stuff.” Dan opened his mouth to argue, but the kid cut him off by shooing him away. “I’m Ray, by the way,” he smiled.

“And I’m Lindsay!” proclaimed a voice from behind Ray. “Now, _why_ are we saying our names?”

“Lindsay!” Gavin almost shouted, standing abruptly. “Look! We got a new friend! His name’s Michael!”

Lindsay, the redhead that Michael had seen almost daily with Gavin in the summer, leaned over the table to stare at Michael. Michael shifted uncomfortably under her piercing gaze, unable to meet her eyes. “I, yeah, hi. I’m Michael,” he squeaked, unsure of what to do.

Her staring went on for another few seconds before she finally spoke. “I… Wow. Michael, you look...” she trailed off, lifting a hand to reach for his face. Michael leaned back a bit, and Lindsay’s hand retracted. “You look awful!”

Michael jumped at her sudden yelling. “I do?”

“Well, yeah. Or am I the only one seeing the bruises on your face? What happened to you?”

Without thinking, Michael’s hand went straight to his black eye. “Oh, these,” he said, wincing at the contact, “I got these in a fight.”

Lindsay gasped, hands covering her mouth, and Michael realized he had just ruined his first impression. “No! No, no, not like that! I mean, I meant that I actually didn’t _start_ the fight, I was just _in_ it!” Lindsay’s expression remained unimpressed, and Michael quickly reworded his sentence. “No, scratch that, I mean—”

Gavin sighed overdramatically, cutting into Michael’s babbling by throwing an arm around his shoulder and bringing him closer. “It’s _fine,_ Lindsay! Some kids ganged up on the poor guy, and all he did was defend himself. Not his fault the guys started throwing punches. Right?” he asked, turning to Michael while giving a squeeze.

Michael nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I meant. Thanks.”

“Ouch,” Lindsay said. “Sounds like they gave you some unnecessary trouble.” She rounded the table edge and dropped her bag next to Gavin, causing him to inch even closer to Michael. “Anyway, I’ll go get some lunch. Someone, anyone wanna stand with me in line?” she asked, glancing over at Ray and Dan.

Both boys stood up, and, before Lindsay could say otherwise, both had started dragging her over to the line. Michael watched the trio as they walked away, Lindsay asking something of both of them, and grinning wickedly at the response she got.

Michael had just barely met the girl, and he was _already_ worried about her.

A weight was lifted off of Michael’s shoulder, and he had been struggling so much to keep himself up that he pushed himself so hard that he bumped into Gavin. He looked to his left to find Gavin snickering at him, and Michael grinned as he lightly kicked Gavin’s shin. “You could’ve given me some warning?”

“I could have,” Gavin agreed, reaching into his bag to grab something, “but you’ve been tense since you sat down. I wanted to get you to laugh or something. At least show _some_ emotion.” He pulled out his lunch and set it on the table, turning his full attention to Michael. “For real, though. You don’t have to act so stiff around us. They like you, I bet! And _I_ certainly like you, or we wouldn’t be friends.”

Michael stared at Gavin, not able to form a sentence of any kind to reply. After stumbling over his words for a few moments, he got something out. “I… really appreciate that.”

Gavin rolled his eyes. “Don’t _appreciate it,_ ” he said with air quotes around ‘appreciate’, “Just realize it, and start having some fun. Relax.” He gave Michael a smile before saying, “Anyway, we’ve got, like, ten minutes. Let’s actually eat our lunch?”

Michael dropped his forehead to the table, earning a gasp from Gavin. “I would, but I forgot my money,” he mumbled, turning his face to look up at Gavin. “No money, no food. And I haven’t eaten since yesterday.”

Gavin opened his mouth to say something, but opted to act instead. He turned around with his lunch for a moment, and Michael could only watch and wonder. Gavin turned back to Michael after a moment, shoving something wrapped in his face. Michael stared at the bundle with a questioning expression before his eyes widened. He looked back at Gavin who was smiling the whole time and shook his head. “No. I’m not going to take your lunch. I’m not taking your food.”

Gavin sighed again. “Michael, please! You’re hungry and you’re _going_ to be hungry all day ‘til you get home. Eat it.”

“Listen, if I eat your lunch, _you_ are going to be hungry,” Michael reasoned, sitting up straight. “Trust me, I’m okay with going hungry for a few more hours if it means letting you eat the lunch you brought from home.”

“It’s not like I gave you the whole thing,” Gavin explained. “It’s just half. And I won’t be hungry, since I don’t eat tons and tons of food anyway. Besides, I know what it’s like to go hungry through the school day. It sucks, so you have to eat, Michael. I won’t let you go hungry.”

“No.”

Gavin huffed, thinking of ways to get Michael to eat. Getting an idea, he pushed his lunch away from himself and crossed his arms. “Fine. I won’t eat either, then.”

Michael stared at Gavin incredulously. “Gavin, you can’t just _not_ eat.”

“That goes for you as well.”

Michael sighed, covering his face with his hands. “I swear to _god_ , you are like _five years old_ ,” he mumbled, letting his hands slip off his face.

“What?”

“Fine, fine!” Michael groaned, taking whatever Gavin had wrapped up for him. “I’ll eat. Only because it’s the only way I’ll get _you_ to eat.” He unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite, allowing himself to swallow before saying, “See? All good, right?”

Gavin tried to keep up his tough look, but failed quickly, letting himself laugh. “Yeah, yeah, we’re good.” He took his own lunch back from across the table and began eating, watching Michael the whole time. “As long as you’re eating, we’re good.”

The trio returned, Lindsay with a tray of food, and Ray and Dan with cookies for dessert. Lindsay sat next to Gavin, as she always did, and tossed her cookies at him. “Take ‘em.”

“I don’t understand. Why buy these if you never eat them?” Gavin asked, taking the cookies anyway.

“Don’t tell me how to live my life, Gavin,” she said with a smile.

“Alright, alright!” he laughed, putting his hands up. “Hey, Michael.”

“Yeah?”

“Take this.”

Gavin ripped open the package and gave Michael one of the two cookies, and Michael took the cookie without an argument. Taking someone’s lunch might have been an issue, but free cookies certainly were not.

“Hey. Hey, Michael,” Gavin said again.

“You gonna offer me the other cookie? Because I will absolutely take it,” Michael said without a second thought.

Gavin giggled before saying, “No, I wasn’t. But I _was_ gonna offer you something else.”

“Yeah?” Michael asked, turning towards him.

“You should sit here every day,” Gavin asked, grinning at him.

Michael’s mouth dropped open, and the cookie fell from his hand into the sandwich. To such an image, Gavin lost his shit over.

“You act like it wasn’t obvious that I would ask you that!” Gavin said between laughs. “So, will you? You will, right?”

Regaining control of his mouth, Michael answered simply, “Oh. Yeah, uh, I’d really like that.”

 

 

A week later, and Michael was still barely used to sitting with such a large crowd.

He was alright with talking to Gavin, since Gavin forced him into some kind of conversation each day, but talking to the other kids was confusing to him. Dan, Ray, and Lindsay were nice enough to start up a conversation with him, so it wasn’t hard to get used to them. It was just the rest of the kids that he was unsure of.

He had never even spoken to some of the kids at the end of the table where Kdin sat.

Michael decided he wouldn’t worry about those kids, and would instead concern himself with the four closest to him at the moment, being Gavin, Dan, Ray, and Lindsay, along with Barbara, Kerry, and Kdin.

He could work with seven people in a year. That wasn’t too challenging for him.

Despite how close they were at lunch, Gavin still hadn’t taken much initiative to talk to him anywhere else. It confused Michael since Gavin had insisted that he would become Michael’s friend. At the same time, he never made the effort to talk with Michael anywhere else. Since last week, Michael had realized that Gavin was in his biology class, but Gavin never did much more than smile at him during class. He rarely ever talked with him on the bus, either.

The whole bus thing was most confusing to him, since Gavin usually sat alone. It wasn’t like he had any other friends on the bus or anything, so why wouldn’t Gavin talk to him like he did at lunch?

Michael decided that he would take that initiative instead, since it didn’t seem like Gavin would be doing it any time soon. That afternoon, then, Michael sat in the three-seater directly across from Gavin, turning towards him and giving a wave.

Looking surprised, Gavin turned to look at Michael and grinned. “Oh, hi, Michael! Why’re you sitting here, and not up front like usual?”

“It’s nothing, I just felt like,” he searched for a different explanation since he wasn’t comfortable explaining. Something like _yeah, well, we never talk outside of lunch and it really bothers me since I want to talk to you more_ would probably freak Gavin out, so he decided on, “like sitting a little farther back. The front is boring.”

Michael thought there was no way that Gavin would buy such a terrible lie, but he did. “That’s understandable, I guess.”

Wanting to get an answer out of Gavin without directly revealing how he felt, Michael asked, “So, why do you like sitting in the middle here? _You_ never switch seats.”

“Well, I’d sit up there with you, but we’ve got assigned seats, so the people up there would probably be upset with me taking their seats.”

Michael’s eyes widened, already moving to stand. “Oh, shit, am I in someone’s seat? Sorry, man, I didn’t know these were permanent seats—”

Gavin laughed, pulling Michael back down into the seat he was in. “No, you’re okay here. There’s only one kid who sits here, but he’s on the bus in the mornings only. I’m sure if you asked to sit next to him in the morning, he wouldn’t mind at all.”

Michael sighed, both from relief that A. he wasn’t taking anyone’s seat, and B. Gavin wasn’t avoiding him on the bus on purpose. But the whole biology class situation was still bothering him. “So, what about classes? How are you doing in bio?”

Gavin rolled his eyes, letting out a groan. He leaned back into the seat and covered his face with his hands. “You don’t understand. I am _terrible_ in that class! That’s why I’m always partnering up with the same people—they know what they’re doing, and they explain every single thing they do, so it really helps me a lot.”

“Really? Why don’t you get a tutor or something?” Michael asked.

“Too much time, costs money, and they’d probably hate me with how much help I’d need,” Gavin complained.

“Well, if you ever needed to, you could ask me,” Michael offered. “I’d never hate you. And I get bio pretty well, so we could study together and stuff and all that.”

“You’d do that for me?”

“Sure. Friends help friends, right?”

Gavin’s face lit up, a wide grin stretching across his face. “Yeah, they do, _friend._ ”

The bus came to their stop, and Michael stood up immediately. He gave Gavin a hand. “Yeah, yeah,” he said, turning towards the front of the bus to hide his embarrassment. “Let’s just get off the bus.”

“Sure, friend,” Gavin said again, taking Michael’s hand and hopping to his feet. Michael pushed forward, and Gavin followed. Michael didn’t need to turn around to know how excited Gavin was to hear him finally using the word ‘friend’.

As soon as Michael had gotten off the bus, and Gavin had let go, Michael was prepared to say goodbye.  Just as they did every day, Michael would wave goodbye and head back to his empty little house. After school was yet _another_ time that Gavin never bothered to do anything with him.

Today, though, would be different.

“Hey, Michael,” Gavin started, tapping Michael’s shoulder before he could get away.

“Yeah?”

“Are your parents home?”

Michael shook his head, scoffing at the question. “No. They don’t get home ‘til later. _Way_ later.”

Totally missing Michael’s point, Gavin continued, “That’s great! So, feel like coming over? Lindsay’s coming over later, so I thought maybe you might wanna come, too?”

“Sure. It definitely beats sitting alone at home all day,” Michael said. If Gavin hadn’t noticed Michael’s obvious attempt to hide just how happy he was to _finally_ be talking to Gavin outside of lunch, Michael wouldn’t know how he could make it any clearer. “Want me to drop my stuff off at my house first?”

“No, no, just come on. We can do some homework at my house or something while we wait, anyway,” Gavin said, pulling Michael’s arm as he led him towards his house. Gavin unlocked the door and threw it open, letting himself in. Michael followed quickly, taking in his new surroundings.

“Gavin?” a voice called from inside.

Gavin let his bag drop to the floor with a thud and kicked off his shoes. “Yeah?” he called out, heading through the foyer and into a different room.

Michael heard a conversation starting, although he couldn’t make out what was said. Instead of listening, Michael dropped his things right by Gavin’s and decided to follow him.

He made his way through the foyer and into what was most likely a kitchen. Gavin sat at the breakfast bar, laughing about something the other voice had said. Not knowing what else to do, Michael headed over to Gavin and sat beside him.

When Michael caught Gavin’s eye, Gavin gasped. He pushed himself onto his knees and bent over the counter, calling out, “Geoff! Look, I’ve got someone to show you!”

Michael followed Gavin’s line of vision to find someone sifting through the contents of the fridge across from them. The person waved a hand to get Gavin to stop yelling and shut the door. They turned to look at Michael, but they froze as soon as the two made eye contact.

Goddammit. Was it some kind of unspoken rule that as soon as someone met him, they would stare at him with that same creepy, confused stare?

“Geoff? Hello?” Gavin drawled, waving at the man across from them. “You okay?”

Geoff, Michael guessed he should call him, shook himself out of his trance and nodded. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. It’s just that, you know, you only ever bring the same three people around. It’s weird to see a new face.”

“I said it was someone new!” Gavin laughed.

“You absolutely _did not_ say new. You only said _someone,_ ” Geoff pointed out. “So, what’s your name, kid? Like I said, it’s not every day that we get some new faces around here,” he asked, turning his attention back to Michael.

“Michael,” he answered simply.

“Michael’s new here,” Gavin explained. “He just moved here in the summer, but I didn’t meet him ‘til the first day of school. And we’ve got bio together. Oh, and lunch. And—”

“Okay, okay! I get it,” Geoff laughed, stopping Gavin from going any further. “I’m sure Michael could tell me all about him by himself, very well without your help.”

The doorbell rang, stopping Gavin from giving some snarky comeback. Instead, he hopped to his feet and rushed to the door, but not before shooting Geoff an angry look. “Michael, I’m gonna go let Lindsay in. Stay here with Geoff, and keep him company!”

Geoff watched Gavin disappear down the hall before turning his attention back to his guest. “So, Michael,” Geoff started, coming over to the breakfast bar. Leaning on his elbows, he took a closer look at Michael. “Where’re you from?”

“New Jersey,” Michael answered. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel extremely uncomfortable with how close Geoff was.

“Oh, a _Jersey_ kid,” he laughed, straightening up with his arms crossed. “Feels weird coming from the city to live in the suburbs, doesn’t it?”

Michael shrugged. “It’s not that bad. I mean, I used to live here, so it’s sorta like coming home, really.”

“Really?”

“That’s how my parents put it,” Michael explained. “I don’t really know how I feel. I was like five when I left.”

“So you don’t remember anything, huh?” Michael shook his head, and Geoff let out a disappointed sigh. “You and him both,” he muttered.

“Huh?”

“It’s nothing,” Geoff quickly covered up. He paused for a moment before asking, “So, why the sudden move back?”

“I don’t know. My parents decided it. But I think they did it _for_ me, y’know? Because, uh.” Michael thought over his actions for a second. Was he really ready to spill his entire life story to some guy he had just met?

“Uh?”

Regardless of every single sign that told Michael not to continue, there was something pushing him to share his past. He had no idea what it was, but something was pulling him towards the person in front of him. “I… was bullied pretty hard when I was there. And it wasn’t even, like, simple teasing. It was physical, it was emotional, and it, I don’t know, pretty much broke me. Ever since I was young, that’s all I can remember. Mean kids and mean words and all sorts of bullying you can imagine. I don’t think I’ve ever been anything more than some broken kid.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Geoff attempted to voice his concern, even though he had no idea how to phrase it. Lowering his voice, he asked, “But why _you_?”

Michael gritted his teeth, fists clenching subconsciously as bad memories flooded back to him; memories he tried fruitlessly to suppress. Memories that he forced away long, long ago. “It was years and years of putting me through all of that without an explanation. I don’t know why. I _never_ knew why. And I guess I’ll never know.”

The front door opened and Gavin ran back to the kitchen, Lindsay following behind him. “Sorry we took so long!” he apologized, standing next to Michael. “Lindsay took her bike here, and we had some trouble locking it up, so we decided on throwing it in the garage.”

“I told him that we should have just put it in the garage without trying to work out the lock!” Lindsay argued. “But he _never_ listens.”

“Let’s be honest, Lindsay. Gavin never listens to anything ever,” Geoff said, bursting into laughter at Gavin’s offended expression.

“C’mon, guys, let’s go upstairs or something, where _some people_ can’t complain about me!” Gavin said, shooting another dirty look at Geoff. He got Michael off his chair and was just about ready to lead him to the stairs.

Lindsay shook her head. “Hey, if it’s okay, can I just grab a little snack? I’ll meet you guys up there in five minutes tops, promise!”

“Sure, as long as you aren’t conspiring with Geoff about stuff. Especially stuff against me.” With those words, he pulled Michael along with him up to his room.

Lindsay waited until she heard footsteps above her before speaking up. Still wanting to take extra precaution in fear that the universe might shatter if she spoke much louder, she whispered, “So. Michael’s back, huh?”

Geoff could do nothing but nod solemnly. “You remember.”

 

 

Meanwhile, Gavin led Michael up the stairs and into his room.

Michael immediately went to sit in the desk chair, whirling around to face Gavin. He watched him walk over to his bed, dropping facedown into the plush blue covers. “So,” Michael started, getting Gavin’s attention, “what was that about? Brother or something? ‘Cept he kinda looks too old to be a brother, I guess. Uncle or something, then?”

Gavin flipped himself onto his left to face Michael. “He’s actually my dad, I guess.”

Furrowing his brow as he scooted closer, Michael asked, “So why call him ‘Geoff’ if he’s your dad? Just call him ‘dad’ like everyone else calls their parents.”

“I would, but he’s not really my dad. Like, real dad,” Gavin explained, pushing himself to sit up straight. “We’re not related, I mean.”

“So you’re adopted? You could still call him dad, you know.”

“I know, but I don’t because I never did,” Gavin tried to make sense of his words, using nonsensical gestures to get his point across. “Like, when I was younger I think I tried it and it was too weird because they weren’t _really_ my parents, so I guess I opted for their names instead?” Michael stared back at him, not having processed a single word, and Gavin sighed. “Listen, my past is all jumbled up. I don’t remember a lot of it, and all I know from when I was really young is that my parents aren’t really my parents. Someday I’ll tell you everything if _I_ remember everything, okay?”

Michael shrugged, not having understood a thing, but wanting to get away from the topic. “I believe you. So, what are we doing today?”

The door opened, and Lindsay let herself inside, apologizing for the sudden intrusion. “I was gonna say ‘let’s wait for Lindsay’, but here she is,” Gavin smiled, and Lindsay gave a little bow.

“Of course, the subjects always wait for their queen,” Lindsay teased.

“Yeah, yeah,” Gavin laughed, hopping to his feet and heading to the door. “So, video games?”

Lindsay sighed, dragging herself forward. “It feels like our whole lives revolve around video games.”

“Hey, do you have a better idea?” Gavin challenged.

Lindsay scoffed, giving up the fight. “Fine, we’ll play. Michael’s facing you first, though, just to see how big of an asshole you become when it comes to games.”

“What?” Michael asked, standing up from where he was.

“Lindsay!” Gavin whined. “You make it sound like I’m an absolute jerk!”

“You are, though!” Lindsay returned. “Literally, you act like such a great guy, and you _are_ , trust me, but then when it’s like you and me, or Ray or Dan or someone really close to you, you just sorta become this annoying shit lord.”

“Annoying shit lord?” Michael snickered.

“Hey, if you knew him, you’d be laughing because you agree,” Lindsay grinned.

Gavin rolled his eyes. “I’m leaving,” he said, letting himself out and slamming the door shut. Lindsay burst into laughter, opening the door and motioning for Michael to follow. They chased Gavin down the stairs and into his living room, trapping him in the small room. Lindsay apologized—that is, if tackling him to the ground and not letting up until Gavin agreed that, yes, he was an asshole, counted as apologizing—and they started playing. The trio exhausted a couple of hours on gaming alone, and Michael finally found out what Gavin was like during a game. Lindsay was absolutely right in calling Gavin an asshole. Every single one of Gavin’s actions had aggravated him or Lindsay in some way, and Gavin never actually apologized for any of it. Everything he did just made the situation _worse_.

It wasn’t like Lindsay and Michael didn’t get revenge for it, though. They took every chance they got to frustrate Gavin as much as he had frustrated them _._

Eventually, Michael realized that his parents would be getting back soon, so he decided he’d go. Gavin and Lindsay both begged him to stay a little longer, since it _was_ the weekend. Michael wanted to stay—hell, he’d probably stay overnight if he could. But he knew that if his parents found him out when he shouldn’t have been, he’d never hear the end of it.

“Alright, alright,” Gavin relented. “But you have to agree to one thing.”

“Whatever you say, Gavin,” Michael said, already one foot out the door.

“You should come over like this more often. Maybe next time, when Ray and Dan are here. Or even Jack and Ryan!”

“I second this!” Lindsay piped up, coming up from behind Gavin. “You can’t say you didn’t have fun today! Of course you’ve gotta come back.”

Michael nodded, giving both of them a smile. “I did, and I will most definitely do this with you again.”

And just like that, Michael found himself coming over almost every single day.

 

 

The next couple of weeks went very, very well for Michael.

He had way more friends than he had in the past ten years, and he actually _enjoyed_ their company. Every day at lunch and nearly every day after school hadn’t tired him yet for some reason.

Back when he was younger, meeting someone who liked him was a godsend. The only problem was that after a few hours at most, they always realized that Michael just wasn’t someone that was easily talked to. Then they would give up, and Michael would be left alone again.

Gavin, Lindsay, and the others were different. They cared enough to stay, and Michael vowed to never let them go.

One day, after lunch, Gavin pulled Michael back before they left for class. “Hey, Michael,” he started.

Michael stopped, turning to face him. After a month of being surrounded by Gavin, he knew him well enough to know that ‘Hey, Michael’, meant something important. Or if it wasn’t important for him, it was always important for Gavin. “Yeah?”

“Are you free after school today? To stay here, with me, that is. Can we do that today?” Gavin asked hesitantly.

“Sure, I’m free,” Michael said, thinking over his after school schedule. “But why do you need to stay after?”

“It’s a secret,” Gavin answered quickly. “Just, make sure you meet me up in the media center, okay?”

“Okay, Gavin. Right after school,” Michael affirmed.

“Yeah, I’ll wait at the entrance. Thanks, Michael!” Gavin beamed, patting Michael’s shoulder and running off to class, leaving Michael alone.

So, as promised, Michael went straight to the media center when the final bell rang. He climbed the stairs and rounded the corner, finding Gavin exactly where he said he’d be.

Gavin stood there awkwardly, seemingly out of place. He clutched a few books at his chest, staring out into space. Michael came up to him, snapping him out of his trance with a wave. “Hey, Gavin. Ready to tell me why we’re here?”

“You’ll see,” Gavin said, leading Michael inside. He dropped his things by a table and sat down, tapping the chair next to his.

Michael took it as his signal to sit down. Doing so, he turned to Gavin and tried again. “So, will you finally tell me what’re we doing?”

Gavin pushed one of the textbooks he was holding towards Michael, and Michael immediately knew what they were doing as soon as he saw the cover.

“You need help with bio, don’t you?” Michael sing-songed with an impish grin on his face.

“Michael! You said that you’d help me if I asked, right?” Gavin pleaded.

“Relax! I didn’t say I wasn’t gonna help you. I just thought that it was kinda funny.”

“Funny? That I need help with my homework?” Gavin asked, sounding offended.

“No, that’s not it,” Michael laughed. “That you waited a whole month to ask for help. I literally said _a month_ ago that if you needed help you could just ask me, and you wait until now to say something.”

Gavin sighed, forehead hitting the table. “I meant to ask earlier, but I didn’t want to bother you until I was absolutely sure I couldn’t do it myself.”

“I really wouldn’t mind. It’s not like I don’t see you every single day, right? What’s a couple more hours gonna do? But whatever, let’s just get to work on this stuff. The whole carbs, fats, proteins, and whatever stuff, right?” Michael asked, opening the textbook. He flipped through the pages, looking for the chapter he needed.

“Yeah,” Gavin muttered.

The next hour was spent with Michael attempting to explain biochemistry to Gavin in the simplest possible way, and Gavin still not understanding at all. Michael repeated his hurried explanations at least three times before getting fed up with it, so he ordered Gavin to try reading the textbook’s explanation, and then Michael would explain whatever Gavin still didn’t understand.

Unfortunately for Michael, there was a lot that Gavin found barely comprehensible. That being so, Michael found himself back where they started. He tried to break everything down for Gavin, piece by piece and see if that worked for him.

Even though Gavin wasn’t exactly an expert on the subject, he still found himself understanding a lot more than he did before Michael had helped him.

Still, not wanting to take Gavin’s word for it alone, he told Gavin to try some of the questions they were assigned for homework that night on his own. At the same time, Michael would do his, and then they would compare answers.

Things in the media center were getting quieter as more and more students left, and before they knew it, there were only a couple of kids in the room. Michael loved the silence and took advantage of it. Having finished the questions from biology and not having any other homework due the next day, he picked a random book off the fantasy shelf and started reading.

Everything was peaceful until Michael felt something hit the back of his head.

His hand went to the back of his head instinctually, turning to Gavin with his brow furrowed. “Was that you?” he asked.

Gavin looked up from his work. “Was _what_ me?”

Michael stared at Gavin, eyes narrowing. On one hand, Gavin could be totally innocent. On the other, he could be a conniving little shit. Letting the options weigh out, Michael decided he would go for the former. “Whatever.”

He returned his attention to his book, immersing himself in the made-up world for a moment before getting hit in the back of the head again. He turned to Gavin again, and this time, Gavin stared right back at him. “You can’t tell me _that_ wasn’t you.”

“I saw it, but it wasn’t me,” Gavin shrugged.

“Then who would it be? It’s you, me, and like three other kids in the back.”

“It could have been them.”

“Okay, it was them, from like ninety feet away.”

Gavin snickered and went back to his work, and Michael went back to his book. This time, he would be ready, his gaze shifting back and forth from the book to his side. When another tap to his head came, he instantly swirled around, finding Gavin with his hand up and looking ready to burst into laughter. “It’s you!” Michael whisper yelled.

Gavin covered his mouth to keep the laughter in. He shook his head wildly. “It’s not!” he said in the same strained whisper.

“Then why would your hand be up like it was!”

“It wasn’t!”

Michael’s face was red, but he decided against arguing anymore. “Okay. Fine. Whatever. It wasn’t you.” He turned around again to read, hissing, “Get back to work.”

Michael heard the scratching of pencil against paper and sighed. He relaxed into the chair as he started to read again.

“Michael.”

Michael shut his eyes and let out a long sigh. “Gavin, I swear to _god_ , if you do _not_ stop bothering me, this book is going _so far up your ass_ —”

“No, no, Michael! I have something to show you!” Gavin shoved a paper at him, and Michael snatched it out of his hand.

Unfolding the paper, Michael found the words, ‘Hi, Michael’ written down. Accompanying the words were two poorly drawn stick figures labeled ‘me’ and ‘you’, along with a triangle-square house.

His hand going to his mouth to muffle his laughs, Michael asked, “Gavin. What _is_ this.”

“It’s a drawing.”

“I can see that. But what is it a drawing _of_?”

“Well, it’s you, and it’s me, and we have a house.”

“Why did you feel the need to draw this?”

“We’re like a little family!”

Michael didn’t know who needed to be smacked in the face more—himself, or Gavin. “Gavin, you’re supposed to be studying biology, and then you draw me _this,_ ” Michael said, holding up the drawing.

“I’m studying an ology. Family. Famology.”

Michael closed the book and brought it to his forehead. “Genetics,” he said. “Genetics is what you mean.”

Gavin laughed, and Michael let out a deep sigh, dropping the book onto the table. He glanced at the clock and froze, instinctually hitting Gavin’s shoulder. “Gavin. It is 4:00. We missed the late bus by half an hour. How are we getting home?”

“We can just walk, it’s not that far.”

“How far?”

“Like, thirty minutes or something.”

“Thirty minutes is ‘not that far’ to you?” Michael asked incredulously.

“Hey, it could’ve been like an hour!” Gavin pointed out, closing his textbook.

Michael sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. “Okay, fine. Let’s get cleaned up here so we can go, yeah?”

Gavin agreed, standing up as he stacked up the books. Michael watched him open his bag and dump the books inside, throwing the bag onto his back. Michael motioned for Gavin to move over, and Michael pushed in both chairs and headed to put his book back on the fantasy shelf.

Michael turned around as soon as the book was back where it came from. “Time to go?”

“Yeah, c’mon,” Gavin answered, motioning for Michael to follow.

The boys left the media center, rushing down the flight of stairs and finally getting out of the school. Gavin nodded forward, silently showing Michael which direction to keep walking in, and Michael kept up with Gavin’s pace.

They walked in silence for a while as Michael took in their surroundings. It had been a long, long time since Michael could freely walk around without feeling threatened or afraid. If he were stuck in his past, walking around the town was a luxury he never had the chance to experience.

_But things are different now._ Michael stole a quick glance at Gavin and smiled to himself. _Much different,_ he thought, watching the cars, the buildings, and the warm colors of the autumn leaves up close.

Michael remained silent until Gavin shook him out of his thoughts. “So,” was all he said.

“So?” Michael raised an eyebrow.

“I was thinking,” Gavin said, stopping to rephrase his sentence. “Thinking that I want to know more.”

“More about what? Bio?” Michael asked, already sickened by the thought of even more than they had already done.

“No, not that,” Gavin laughed, playfully hitting Michael’s shoulder. “About you.”

Michael meant to say something, but he couldn’t figure out how to respond to such a sudden loaded question. “About me?” he settled for.

“Yes, about you!” Gavin grinned. “Didn’t I just say that?”

“Sure, but, I mean, what’s there to know?” Michael asked. “You’ve known me for a long enough time to know most things about me. What else _is_ there?”

“Well, there’s lots of stuff, Michael! I might know lots about how you act in school, but I don’t know things like what’s going on in your head. Stuff that I can’t know by seeing,” Gavin attempted to explain.

Michael thought about it and came up with nothing. After all, there wasn’t much more to tell. Gavin knew basically everything about him. His name, his age, where he lived, how he acted… Michael wasn’t sure there was anything else to say.

The two finally reached their first crosswalk after ten minutes of walking, and Michael still hadn’t come up with anything. Gavin sighed, giving in to break the silence. “Okay, how about this? I’ll tell you some stuff about _me_ , and then maybe you’ll think of stuff to tell me about _you_.”

“Sure, Gavin,” Michael nodded. The light turned green, and the two ran across the highway before getting onto a much idler road. “What don’t I know about you?”

Gavin hummed. He pointed to Michael’s right where a small school building was. “How about that? That was my old preschool.”

Michael turned to take a look at it and nodded. “But why does that matter? You were only there for like two years or something, and you were probably like five. That’s not really something that important.”

“No, but it is, Michael!” Gavin said, playfully slapping Michael’s shoulder again. “Because, well, when I was younger, I was bullied there.”

_I’ve been there in that situation, too,_ Michael thought, gritting his teeth at the painful memories. But he wasn’t going to say that out loud—he didn’t want to ever remember anything about those years. So maybe there _was_ something Gavin didn’t know about him, but he certainly didn’t need Gavin to worry about something that was already done. Instead, Michael settled for, “Oh, sorry.”

Gavin shook his head. “It’s not like it’s your fault, I didn’t even know you back then. But the important part is, I moved here when I was five, and the kids made fun of me because my nose was pretty big and because I have the accent, and they did that for a couple of years ‘til I met Dan and they finally stopped bothering me.”

“So, basically, you’ve just told me that this school was a terrible place for you.”

“No, no! There’s a better side to this story,” Gavin explained. “This is where me and Lindsay became good friends. We used to do a lot of stuff together.”

“Like?”

“Like, normal things that kids do. Like eating lunch together, and playing house together. We played house every day, and it’s strange that I never got tired of that.”

“So you guys have been close since the beginning, huh?” Michael asked, kicking through the fallen leaves.

“I guess so!” Gavin smiled, remembering what was left of those memories. “Come to think of it, we were friends with some other kid, too. I don’t know what happened to them. I can’t remember them at all. Maybe they—”

“Gavin,” Michael cut in, “where do we turn?”

Gavin was surprised that they had reached the intersection so quickly. He instructed Michael to turn right, and they continued their walk. “But—what was I saying? Never mind, then. Why don’t you tell me stuff about when you were a little kid, Michael?” Gavin asked.

Michael let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t—I don’t know. My past is… My past isn’t the most interesting thing, I guess. There’s nothing to talk about.”

“There’s gotta be _something_.”

“Not really.” Michael refused to let Gavin know anything about his pitiful past.

“Then your future. Tell me things about your future.”

Michael stopped abruptly and stared Gavin right in the eyes. “Gavin. It is called the future for a reason. It hasn’t happened yet.”

Gavin stopped, too, turning to face Michael. “Okay, and?”

“It hasn’t happened, I don’t know what’s gonna happen, how can I tell you about my future?”

Gavin laughed. “I mean, I mean, things like your plans. What’re you planning? What do you want to happen?”

Michael sighed and shook his head, continuing forward. “Okay, fine. Maybe college, maybe a job, then I don’t know. Other things.”

Gavin snickered. “You sound so boring! What about friends? What about us? What about family?”

“Family? I don’t know if I’ll even fall in love with anyone,” Michael admitted, wording _am I even capable of love anymore_ in a much less depressing way.

“Then I’ll be your family, like that picture. And we can have a house and stuff, just like the picture. And then Lindsay can live with us and we can all be a nice family!” Gavin suggested.

Michael found the suggestion absolutely ridiculous but allowed himself to smile anyway. “Sure. And then Dan and Ray can live with us, too.”

“Nah, they’ll be married or something. They’ll live next door.”

“Seriously?” Michael asked, genuinely curious.

“Oh, no! I don’t know, actually. It’d just make for a funny story to tell your kids or something someday,” Gavin laughed, actually thinking about the possibility of Dan and Ray being together. “But I’ll be completely honest and say that I would not be surprised if they were together.”

Michael wanted to disagree, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He laughed out loud, nodding as he said, “Yeah, me neither, actually.”

Gavin found Michael’s laughter infectious, laughing out loud himself. “But it would be great, right? We can be our little family, and then Dan and Ray and whatever happens to them, and then we can do lots of stuff together.” Gavin gasped, covering his mouth with his hands. “We could have a little pet or something! And we could all take care of it and give it lots of love and treat it like our little baby and all!”

Michael rolled his eyes. “Sure, a pet will be nice. And living together as a little family is nice. But imagine us going out as a whole. Everyone would hate us!”

“Why’s that?”

“Have you seen how loud and obnoxious we are by ourselves?” Michael asked incredulously. “We’re like a train wreck!”

Gavin laughed outright again. “We are, though! You know how we’re like when we go to the movies now, we’d probably be ten times worse if we had total control over what we could do!”

“No, but imagine if we went to a restaurant? God, you’d probably shove a hundred straws in your mouth or something, and we would be banned. _Forever_ ,” Michael pointed out.

The two continued thinking of other outrageous situations that the group could be put into, and by the time they reached Gavin’s house, every other word was drowned out with laughter.

Gavin hopped up the steps and unlocked the door, pushing himself inside and collapsing in laughter onto the floor. Michael’s eyes widened and his volume of laughter escalated, quickly following Gavin’s lead as he fell to his knees and onto his side.

Gavin desperately tried to calm down to form anything resembling a word. “Oh, god,” he managed to get out, completely breathless.

“See?” Michael said between laughs. “This would be us every single night if we came home drunk. The entire neighborhood—no, wait, the _town_ —would hate our guts!”

As the laughter became less and less, the boys were left breathless on the floor. They lay on their backs, side by side, not much farther from the front door.

Gavin turned to look at Michael with the most ridiculous grin on his face that Michael had ever seen. “Hey, Michael.”

Michael let out a deep sigh. “Yes, Gavin?”

“All that stuff is gonna come true, right?”

“Huh?”

“We’ll be friends for a lot longer than just high school, right? Even when we’re older. Even when we’re with actual families and stuff and jobs? We’ll be together?”

“Well, yeah, I don’t see why not. Why do you ask?”

Gavin stayed silent for a while, and Michael let him think. Michael watched Gavin’s face quietly, watching his expression go to dead seriousness. “I don’t know,” Gavin whispered. “I just… I don’t want to lose you. That probably sounds creepy, especially since we’ve only known each other for a month.”

Gavin paused again, taking in a deep breath. “But I don’t want you to leave me.”

Michael smiled. “Well, Gavin, I’m happy to say that I will never, ever leave. I’ll even make it a promise.”

Maybe this time, Michael would keep it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one day danray will exist
> 
> o n e d a y


	9. Promise to Trust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //kicks down your door GUESS WHOS BACK back back back a GAIN GAIN GAIN
> 
> whats up kids are we ready for the coolest story ever because i sure as hell am not
> 
> never title a chapter because it hurts opt for the easy 1 2 3 stuff you see everywhere
> 
> i hit post limit on tumblr so you guys are getting this chapter 30 minutes early lmao

As Michael left the cafeteria the following day, a hand was placed on his shoulder. Without question, Michael stopped to ask, “What, Gavin?”

Gavin laughed, coming up to Michael’s side. The two walked out of the lunchroom together, set for their next class. “I was thinking. Would you consider staying after with me again today?”

“I don’t know, Gavin. Are you going to draw me another picture of a family and call it ‘studying an ology’? Because if that’s what you want, I don’t know that I’d say yes.”

Gavin playfully knocked his hand against Michael’s shoulder, giving another laugh. “No, no. This isn’t about biology.”

“Then what _is_ it?”

“It’s a surprise,” Gavin grinned.

Michael shrugged, “Alright. That still doesn’t earn you a solid yes from me. Last time I agreed to a surprise I ended up with biology. How much worse can it get?”

“Then that should be why you agree!” Gavin pointed out. He pulled Michael aside so that they wouldn’t get caught in the crowds of people. “C’mon, please? It won’t be that bad. There’s no studying involved.”

With a roll of his eyes, Michael sighed. “Are you absolutely sure that I _won’t_ hate you for dragging me somewhere?”

“I swear!” Gavin confirmed, holding out his pinky.

Michael stared at the hand in front of him. “What?”

Shocked, Gavin stumbled over his words for a moment. “Oh, no. No. C’mon, Michael. I know you don’t know much about stuff but you _have_ to at least have made a promise one time or another.”

“Of course I’ve made promises—”

“Well, come on, then!” Gavin shoved his hand in Michael's face.

Michael slapped the hand away, laughing. “Gavin, seriously, what _is_ this?”

Forcibly, Gavin grabbed Michael’s pinky and wrapped it around his own. Locking their pinkies together, Gavin shook their hands up and down. “There. Now we’ve made a promise, and you have to come and stay with me today.”

Deciding against arguing and escalating the situation any further, Michael settled for a laugh. “Okay, okay, fine. I won’t ask. Where do you want me to find you?”

Gavin hummed, thinking about the possibilities. “Why don't you come find me by the media center again? That okay with you?”

“Sure, dude,” Michael confirmed. “Right after last period, then?”

“Yeah.” Gavin threw an arm around Michael's shoulder and gave a tight squeeze before letting him go. Gavin pushed him away and smiled, saying, “Alright, let's get to class. And don't forget!”

“I won't,” Michael called back as Gavin made his way backwards to class. Gavin gave him a salute before turning around fully and racing to class. Michael laughed and gave his own little wave as he made his way to class, all the while wondering what Gavin was planning.

 

 

As promised, Michael reported straight to the media center after school. He still had no idea what was in store for him, and Kdin didn't seem to have a clue either. Then again, he could have totally been lying to him. What if Kdin and Gavin were planning something together? Something bad?

Michael shook his head. Gavin wasn't that much of an asshole, was he? Michael thought about it, about everything he knew about Gavin.

Maybe he was wrong.

Michael was shaken out of his thoughts when Gavin came bounding up to him. He flashed a smile and grabbed Michael's hand immediately, causing Michael to jolt forward as he nearly lost his balance. “Jesus, Gavin! Would you calm down? What's so important that we have to _run_?”

“C'mon, Michael! I just don't wanna be late is all. The sooner we get there, the better! It won't be as crowded!” Gavin explained, tugging Michael along with him.

Michael struggled to catch up at first, but was soon running along at Gavin's pace. “Care to tell me exactly  _where_ we're going?”

“You'll see,” was Gavin's only response.

Michael sighed and shook his head. Maybe his suspicions weren't all that far off.

When they ended up at the gym doors, Michael pulled his hand away and groaned. “Gavin.”

“Yeah?”

“You can't be serious.”

Gavin laughed, nodding his head. “Please, Michael? You promised me!”

Michael looked into the gymnasium, completely full of students walking around and getting information about clubs and after school activities. The activity fair; a place where there were way too many people for him to handle. “I don't know, Gavin,” Michael admitted.

Gavin sighed. He took a quick look at the gym and turned back to Michael. “If you really can't, you don't have to stay. I just thought it would be cool for you to look for some clubs you might be interested in? Maybe make some more friends that are into the stuff you like?” Gavin shrugged, shaking his head. “But if you really want to leave, we can leave.”

Michael thought over what Gavin said. He was right; extracurricular activities were pretty essential for college. And meeting some new friends never hurt anyone, even if the idea was a little out there. “Alright,” Michael gave in. “Just for a little while.”

Gavin's face brightened up immediately. “Really?” His face turned serious as he asked, “But, you're sure it's okay? You're not just saying that because I made you feel bad?”

“I'm sure, Gavin,” Michael said, glad that his friend was worried for him. “Stick close to me though. If anything happens, you're responsible,” he laughed.

“Alright, alright,” Gavin laughed back. Grabbing Michael's hand again, he led him into the gym. “Let's look for some stuff you might like!”

The gym was full of covered tables and representatives from each club. Signs and banners covered the walls, and some people were holding them while trying to recruit new members. Others passed out fliers and cards. People were all over the place, milling around and making noise. Some were actually taking the event seriously as they looked for clubs to join, but others were only killing time and taking up space. Michael struggled to keep up with Gavin, even with their fingers interlocked. He bumped into so many people, he wasn't sure of how he was still standing, let alone still connected to Gavin.

By the time the duo reached the center, Michael held a stack of fliers, cards, and was asked at least five times if he was interested in joining “insert club name here”. Gavin stood on his tiptoes to get a better look at the entire gym and survey the area. “You alright there, Michael?”

Michael nodded. “Yeah. And I don't want a single one of these,” he said, dumping his collection of papers into Gavin's arms.

Gavin folded up the papers and shoved them into his bag. “You might want them later,” was his explanation. “Anyway!” he piped up, slinging the backpack over his shoulder again, “We've got the arts, the languages, and the practicals, and the hobbies. See anything you're into?”

Michael scanned the room for anything to catch his eye, but it was useless. With his height, he was barely able to see over anyone's heads. He stood on his tiptoes and leaned to each side, struggling to see past the people in his way. Sighing in frustration, he gave up and sank back down. “Well, I'd answer if I _could_ actually see. Sorry, Gav.”

“Okay, well, maybe we could...” Gavin trailed off, thinking aloud. Eyebrows knit, he started to think of a solution for Michael's height problem.

Michael watched as Gavin went silent and stared out into space. This was the typical “Gavin-is-thinking” procedure; he wouldn't say a word and kept his eyes glued to something in the distance as he thought through the possibilities.

Gavin snapped his fingers and looked up at Michael with a smile, and Michael knew he'd reached his ingenious solution. “I've got it! Let's just walk around the outskirts, and we'll find you a club that way! How's that sound?”

Michael shrugged. It was better than sitting in the middle of the gym without a clue of what was going on around him. “It's better than nothing. Sure, let's go.”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Gavin had grabbed his hand again, and they were off. This time, Gavin was blocked by mobs of people, so he couldn't get much faster than an inconsistent brisk walk. Half the time, Michael wasn't being stopped by students shoving fliers in his face, but instead by slamming into Gavin's back.

At some point, they reached the edge of the gym, and Michael wondered how he hadn't been knocked out yet. Gavin looked over the area again, and repeated what he'd said earlier. “So, arts, languages, practicals, and hobbies. This, right over here,” Gavin said, motioning to the row of tables to his left, “is the languages section. Speak any languages? Or in a high level language class?”

Michael shook his head. He was stuck in level one Spanish, since he was automatically placed there. His school never gave the best language education, anyway, so he thought it was best that he stay there. Which wasn't exactly a bad thing, but it wasn't high enough to be considered for the language honor societies. “Not even close.”

Gavin nodded, looking to the tables lining the next wall. “Okay. Well, what about arts?”

Michael took a look at the arts kids, all with gigantic, brightly colored signs and posters. “I don't know, Gav,” Michael sighed. “I'm not really the best artist.” He liked the arts, found them fun, and was an okay artist if he tried. He just didn't know if he wanted to be surrounded by the artsy kids who were way better than he was.

“You don't have to be _good_ ,” Gavin stressed, reassuring him. “You just have to like them. There's stuff here that doesn't require being good at art.” Gavin led him to the arts section, reading on the clubs with interest. Michael trailed behind, offering glances at the artwork and the people, but never stopping to ask anything. He got so lost in the artwork, admiring the skill and technique, that he didn't hear Gavin talking to him.

“How's this?” Gavin asked a bit louder as he tapped Michael's shoulder. That brought Michael back to reality, and he focused his eyes on whatever Gavin was showing him. Gavin handed him a pamphlet and turned back to the student behind the table. “So, what's all this about an art magazine?”

The student gave Michael a grin, to which Michael responded with a meek smile and a wave. “Right, well, there's actually no art skill required for this club.”

Gavin elbowed Michael gently, as if to say 'I told you so'. “Go on,” he said.

“Basically, we take submissions from the students and decide which pieces go into the magazine. It's a long process of putting the magazine together, but it's worth it in the end.” Michael nodded to the student in understanding as he flipped through the magazine. It was full of all different forms of art from sculpture to paintings, and Michael admired it all.

“How do you decide what goes in? Is there some kind of criteria the art has to match or something?” Gavin asked, leaning closer to Michael to get a better look at the magazine. “How do you all come to an agreement, I mean?”

“Well, that's where the after school part comes in. We spend our time in discussion over the pieces, sharing our opinions and thoughts. Then we vote on whether or not the piece is in or out.”

Gavin nodded, glancing at Michael. Michael looked his way and shook his head—that kind of thing wasn't for him. If it was physically creating the magazine, it would have worked. This, though, wasn't what he wanted. “I...” Gavin trailed off, thinking of how to end the conversation without disappointing the student. “I think we'll come back later, then. Wouldn't want to miss the rest of the clubs, right?” Gavin offered the student a laugh, and the student responded with a smile.

Michael felt bad. The kid probably thought they weren't going to come back at all. Which was true, but he still felt bad about letting them down.

The two continued around the tables the same way, asking questions and getting answers. For the clubs Michael was interested in, he wrote his email down on the mailing list. For the ones he knew had zero chance of his presence, they gave the same excuse every time—that they'd “be back later”.

Michael thought it was a successful use of their time. He found that he was most curious about the clubs that were more work oriented, like the video club, or the yearbook staff. Acting behind the scenes to create something everyone watched or saw—that was for him. He was sure about joining one or the other.

This time, Gavin was sure to get them out of the gym _before_ the late buses left, sparing them another agonizing walk home. On the bus, Gavin did most of the talking. Since he hadn't had time to ask earlier, he spent the majority of the bus ride asking how the remainder of Michael's day had gone. Which had been rather well, actually. Despite geometry being some sort of ungodly, otherworldly kind of math, the day's lesson wasn't the worst that Michael had seen. But there was always the question of 'when am I actually going to need to provide proof for knowing what a perpendicular bisector does' that came up, along with similar ones.

Gavin laughed over that one for a while, agreeing completely with Michael. “Algebra II isn't much better, I promise. Did you know that there's an entire other method for measuring angles? Now, why would you teach the first one when there's another that makes complete sense?”

Michael groaned, letting his head fall back, hitting the window with a thud. Gavin burst out into laughter, and Michael rubbed the back of his head, letting out a laugh of his own.

“Don't hurt yourself! Algebra II will do it for you,” Gavin joked.

At their stop, they got off the bus and headed for Gavin's house. At this point, neither had to ask if they were going to spend time together; it just happened. No questions asked.

Gavin hopped up the steps and unlocked the front door. Stepping to the side, he pushed the door open and bowed, ushering Michael inside. Michael laughed, pushing Gavin's shoulder lightly as he got into the house. Gavin followed quickly after, and he tossed his shoes off before heading up the stairs. Michael took his time in untying his shoes, but followed Gavin up to his room right after.

Gavin was already face down on his bed, limbs haphazardly spread over it. Michael shoved him to the side, struggling to get Gavin to roll onto his side. After some effort and a whole lot of frustration, Gavin still wouldn't budge, so Michael threw himself right on top of Gavin. Gavin squealed in surprise, incessantly moving in attempt to throw Michael off. Michael stayed put by grasping onto the sheets to hold his ground, laughing at Gavin's pathetic attempts to get rid of him.

“Alright, alright, Mi—Michael!” Gavin pleaded between breaths as he kept kicking. “I'll move, for god's sake, get off me!”

Michael complied, easily moving to the foot of the bed. Gavin untangled himself from his comforter and rolled to the side. Michael took up the space he left.

“You're the worst,” Gavin muttered as Michael sat down. He ran his hands through his hair, trying to fix it the best he could.

Michael shrugged. “Maybe you should have thought about that before taking up all the space.”

“It's _my_ bed!”

“Well,” Michael drawled out, ending the word with a laugh as Gavin continued to pout.

Gavin huffed and looked away, so Michael started a new conversation. “So, _why_ exactly were you so set on getting me to join a club?”

“I told you already,” Gavin sighed, sitting up and pulling his knees in to his chest. “I just thought it'd be nice for you to find some people who like the stuff you do.”

Michael heard Gavin explain earlier, but he didn't exactly have the time to register and digest them. He knew that extracurricular activities were a necessity, so he agreed to stay with Gavin. Now he wondered why Gavin wanted him to make some extra friends. “I have you,” Michael said. “Isn't that enough?”

Gavin smiled, but a look of worry crossed his face. “It is, yeah. But what if,” he paused, trying to form his words so that he wouldn't offend Michael, “what if I'm not there or something? Like, I get busy?”

Michael furrowed his brow. It was the beginning of the school year, how busy could Gavin be? He'd understand if Gavin were talking like this close to midterms or finals, but now? “Are you trying to say that you don't think I could find anyone on my own? That I'm lost without you or something? Because I can take care of—“

“No, no, Michael, you idiot!” Gavin stopped him before his accusations could get any more ridiculous. “Of course I know you can take care of yourself. You're a big boy,” he joked, but Michael wasn't having any of it. Gavin cleared his throat before continuing. “I know that's what it looked like, and I'm sorry, but it's just that I was worried about you. It's better to make those friends now than later, yeah? I wanted to help is all. I'm sorry it didn't seem that way.”

Michael deflated, keeping his eyes at the floor. He still didn't like that Gavin was basically treating him like a baby, but he knew Gavin was right. Dealing with people sucked already. Dealing with crowds were even worse. And don't get him started on forcing himself to push into a crowd. That was the absolute worst. Gavin never meant any harm, and he certainly never meant to treat him like a shy, scared little kid. “I believe you, Gavin. Sorry for snapping at you,” he apologized, looking him in the eye again.

“It's my fault, really,” Gavin said. “But enough of that. Let's talk about other stuff.”

“Since you didn't choose any clubs, what are you gonna do?” Michael asked, sincerely curious about his answer. Gavin never told Michael what he wanted to do, and he certainly didn't learn from that afternoon in the gym.

Gavin sucked in a breath, refusing to look at Michael for a bit. “Well, I'm really into film. It's a ton of fun,” he laughed. “But, this year...”

Michael tried to read his face, but he got nothing. Gavin was completely unpredictable to him. “This year?” he repeated, trying to get Gavin to continue his story.

“Right, well, I've been thinking about trying out for the play.”

Michael leaned back and nodded, thinking about that situation. Gavin was one—well, _the_ most emotional and dramatic person he'd ever known. He'd be good in theater, Michael was sure of it.

Gavin glanced at Michael for a second, and their eyes met. He looked way just as quickly, as if afraid of what Michael might say. By the looks of it, this was probably the first time Gavin had thought about acting on stage, Michael thought.

“I think,” Michael started, and Gavin perked up immediately, “I think that you should do it.”

Gavin seemed to let out a breath he'd been holding the whole time. “Really?”

“Yeah, dude. Why not, right? It'll be fun, and I think you'd be a natural,” Michael said, giving Gavin a smile.

“You really think so, Michael?” Gavin asked, and Michael nodded again with a laugh.

“I literally have no reason to lie to you. Yes, idiot, go try out for the play.”

“I don't know, Michael,” Gavin worried. “I mean, this is the first time I've ever thought about doing this stuff. I mean, you're the first person I've told.”

“I still think you should do it, Gav. Everyone's always like 'there's a first time for everything', so here's your first time,” Michael said, trying to get Gavin to believe in his own ability. “And why would I be the first one you told?”

“Because I trust you,” Gavin said without missing a beat.

Michael was speechless, and not for the first time around Gavin. Something about those simple words spread a feeling of warmth in his chest, and it radiated through his body. He was sure his cheeks were no exception. “I— Oh,” was the best he could manage.

If Michael's cheeks were red as he suspected, Gavin didn't let him know. “I trust you, and I know you won't lie to me. So, if you say I should do it, I'll do it.”

It seemed almost ridiculous to Michael that Gavin would put so much faith in a guy he'd known for a month or so at most, but it made him near ecstatic to know that _he_ was that guy. “Then I'll wish you good luck and support all the way. When are auditions?”

“Well,” Gavin started, obviously unsure of the answer himself. “Soon, probably.”

Michael rolled his eyes, chucking a pillow at Gavin. “Soon. What a great help that was.”

Gavin laughed and threw the pillow right back, but Michael swerved out of the way to avoid it. “We can just find out tomorrow!”

“And if the auditions are _tomorrow_?” Michael asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.

“They wouldn't be!” Gavin answered. He stopped, furrowing his brow as he thought about it. “Would they?”

“How should I know, Gavin?” Michael continued to laugh, flopping back onto the bed. “I don't pay attention to that stuff. Check the website or something.”

Check the website Gavin did. He pulled out his phone and searched the website for his answer. “Auditions are in a week,” Gavin said, sighing in relief.

“That's good,” Michael said, sitting up again. “You have time to practice. What's this year's play?”

“The Sound of Music,” Gavin explained, singing the words.

Michael hummed an approval. “I saw that movie, like, once in grade school. It was pretty okay.”

Gavin chuckled, pocketing his phone. “Pretty okay is all you thought? Nothing else?”

“I was, like, ten. No one cared about the movie and everyone made so much noise I could barely hear it,” Michael explained. “You can't really blame me.”

“But I _can_ blame you for never giving it another chance!” Gavin said. He began to roll towards the edge of the bed. Michael went to grab him, but it was too late, and Gavin hit the floor with a yelp. Michael nearly screamed with laughter, and Gavin joined in as he grabbed the bed to help him stand.

“Gavin, what the hell is wrong with you?” Michael asked in between laughs.

Gavin dusted himself off and walked over to his bookshelf, effectively avoiding all the trash covering his floor. “You'll see,” was all Gavin said.

Michael lay back again, thinking he knew exactly what Gavin was up to. “Alright, Gav.”

After a minute of shuffling around and mumbling to himself, Gavin returned with a movie case in hand. He walked over to the television in his room and proceeded to turn it on. “Since you never took the initiative to watch The Sound of Music seriously,” he began, inserting the disk. The title screen popped up, just as Michael expected, and he laughed. “We're going to do it right now.”

“Oh my _God_ , Gavin. Are you serious?”

Gavin came over, and Michael moved to accommodate him. Plopping himself down on the bed and sitting cross-legged, he replied, “Yes. I am absolutely serious about this.”

Michael shook his head and laughed again as the movie started. “I hope this at least helps you prepare for your audition. When, you know, you could spend some time reading the script over.”

Gavin only shrugged, shushing Michael and focusing on the movie. “This is worth it. Now be quiet and watch.”

Michael gave a final laugh before shutting up for the rest of the movie. “Whatever you say, Gav.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listen kids. im an art kid. not a theater kid. and for that id like to apologize fully to every theater kid whos going to read this and cry


	10. Promise to Support

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im ready to kick down someones door and bust in saying  
> WHATS UP guys this is probably my fastest update in the history of ever
> 
> listen i tried out for the play once when i was in 8th grade and i got a callback and guess what role i landed  
> hell yeah ensemble  
> so. it is very clear that i know about 4% about theater and for that i would like to formally apologize

"I don't know what to do, Michael. I'm worried."

As soon as the movie had finished, Gavin found the motivation to begin practicing and rehearsing for his part. When the credits rolled, Gavin jumped to his feet, pulling Michael up with him. They raced to the computer, pulling up a script of the play. After skimming it and choosing scenes, they spent the rest of the day reciting them.

Michael found that he was actually a decent actor, and his voice acting was his best aspect. He could change his voice to fit most of the characters in the play, and his words didn't sound fake or stilted. Gavin, though, was incredible. Every word out of his mouth was expertly crafted to hold the right amount of emphasis and emotion, and he looked genuinely passionate about it. Michael had a hard time believing Gavin had never had any experience in a school play before.

Gavin disproved that thought, though. "I've never been in a play, but that doesn't mean I don't practice acting alone."

At some point, they gave up on being serious and over dramatized the entire thing. They reenacted the first scene, and Gavin ran around his room throwing his arms around not-so-gracefully. He screeched the lyrics, barely holding any harmony. With his eyes closed and still running around, he tripped over something and fell, knocking Michael down with him. They lay there for a while, both of them laughing so hard they couldn't stand.

The next day, the two immediately went to find the theater to find out how the auditions went. It was going to be simple, and they would have to sing and dance the first time. If they were good enough for callbacks, they would recite lines to get their parts.

The rest of that week went as usual. Gavin didn't tell anyone else about the play, not even Lindsay, so Michael and Gavin went home together alone each day. They practiced together, going through the songs and scenes. Any of the lines or songs from the play could be chosen for his audition, and he wanted to be ready for anything and everything that could happen.

"So, why haven't you told anyone else?" Michael had asked during a break. He handed Gavin a water bottle and continued his question. "Not even Lindsay knows. Don't you trust her, too?"

Gavin took the bottle with a thank you and uncapped it. "It's just that I don't want this to blow up all over the school or anything. As soon as they know something about me, it's everywhere, you know? I don't wanna have this rumor going around. What if I don't actually get a part in the play?”

"But you don't even trust Lindsay or Dan or Ray to keep it to themselves?" Michael wondered, taking a seat on the bed.

Gavin took a drink and shrugged. "Well, I do, but..." He stopped, trying to figure out how to word his thoughts. "It's just that I like this. It's like a little secret between us, me and my boy. I like that."

Michael laughed. "Aww, I'm special to you."

Michael expected a joke from Gavin as well, but he stuttered, "I-- Yeah. You are," as he laughed awkwardly.

Michael was silent, but he felt his cheeks burn from the thought of Gavin seriously thinking of him as special, despite knowing him for about a month.

Clearing his throat to break that silence, Gavin jumped up and threw the now empty bottle in the trash. "Well, let's get back to work!"

The week continued with their daily theater practices, but Michael was just a little bit happier to do it with that new piece of information.

When the week ended, his audition day arrived, and there they were in the theater room.

"I'm so worried," Gavin repeated.

When they got there, Gavin sat down and attempted to calm down. Michael sat with him, feeling the nervousness radiating off of Gavin. Gavin couldn't sit still, and he did everything to prove that. He was bouncing his leg, continuously glancing around the room, and Michael swore he could hear his heart beating faster and faster.

The room was full of students, but both of them knew that there were many more, since there were multiple audition days.

That only worsened Gavin's condition.

The other students were standing around, practicing various songs and even stretching for the dance. "Why don't you practice, Gav?" Michael asked, surprising Gavin out of his thoughts.

Gavin sighed. "I don't know. I'm worried."

Michael laughed. "I know. You told me that three times.”

Gavin shot him a look, and Michael put up his hands in surrender. "Look, I just, I want this to be good. So I'm trying to calm down. But I don't know how."

"Listen, dude, maybe I can help you," Michael said, turning to face Gavin as much as he could in the chair. "There's this thing I do, it's a breathing exercise, and you calm yourself down and regulate your breathing. It really helps."

“Okay,” Gavin breathed, nodding as he turned in his seat. “How does it work?”

“Okay, you breathe in for four seconds, hold it for eight seconds, and then you breath out for another eight. You keep repeating it until you calm down. It helps a lot, even for when you get angry. Try it.”

Gavin breathed normally for a second until he decided to try it. Michael watched him breathe in deep, hold it, and let it go. Gavin kept his eyes closed and counted on his fingers as he did it. He repeated the action a few more times before opening his eyes. “I... Okay.”

“Better?” Michael asked, hoping that Gavin felt calmer than before.

Gavin smiled. “Yeah, thanks, Michael. It helped a lot.”

The group began to quiet down, and a single voice was heard above the others. Gavin strained to see what was going on in front of them, but the students were so closely packed that he had no chance. A list of names was read, and one after another, students stepped forward and towards the door.

Gavin froze in place, stuck between wanting to get it over with and pushing it off as much as humanely possible. He listened closely, watching the group in front of him become smaller with each departing person. When the names stopped, Gavin relaxed in his chair, and the chatting continued.

“Are you still nervous?” Michael asked, knocking his hand against Gavin's shoulder.

“Yeah, but I feel better than I did before,” Gavin replied, facing Michael again. “Do you think I should practice some more?”

“What's left for you to practice?” Michael laughed. “We spent the entire week doing that. I don't know that there's anything left for you to do!”

“I don't know, Michael! Something, anything.”

“You wanna sing or something?” Michael asked, already going through the play list of songs he memorized. “Get ready by doing some voice exercises?”

“Yeah. Yeah, that's a good idea,” he spoke, sitting up straight. He cleared his throat, and Michael watched as he began to sing the scales. He waited through the whole thing, admiring Gavin's voice. Michael thought Gavin had a great singing voice. Michael had told him before, but Gavin didn't believe him, saying that his voice couldn't reach too high, and it didn't sound right at all sometimes.

Michael still thought it was perfect.

The room was a little too loud for him to be heard over the others, but Michael leaned in closer to listen. When Gavin finished, he looked at Michael expectantly. “So?”

“You're good,” Michael said, leaning back. “I believe in you. You'll do fine.”

Gavin grinned widely. “Thanks, Michael. I appreciate that.”

“So,” Michael started, watching as a few students reentered the room. “What part are you going for? I don't think you ever told me.”

Gavin shrugged, sliding further down in his chair. “I didn't think about that. I mean, I don't think that matters, does it? I think I'll be happy with whatever happens.”

“Yeah? And if they cast you as one of the kids or something? Or a girl?”

“Well, I can't really be mad about that, now can I?” Gavin replied. He didn't see anything wrong with that, and didn't understand why Michael did. “I did say I never had anything in mind. And I don't care anyway. I'll like what I get. It's all just acting, after all, isn't it?”

"You don't think it's weird that you might have to play as a girl?”

"No," Gavin answered honestly. "There's nothing wrong with it. Like I said, it's just acting."

"If you say so, Gavin," Michael shrugged, choosing to believe him.

By this time, most of the students that were previously called out had now returned, along with whoever had asked for them. The same voice was heard as the busy students quieted down again.

Gavin sucked in a breath and held it as names were called and students stepped out once more. Name after name, student after student, Gavin listened and watched one after another come and go.

"And... Gavin Ramsey."

Gavin straightened up and stood in such a robotic way that Michael had to bite back a laugh. He turned to him with a worried look, but Michael gave him a smile.

"You'll be fine," Michael whispered. "You've practiced so much and prepared everything you could possibly expect. And don't you forget, I'm here to support you."

Gavin grinned and visibly relaxed which made Michael's smile widen. "Thanks, Michael." He left the room, and Michael could see his confidence was back.

The room went back to its previous volume when Gavin left. Michael watched the students both practicing and panicking over their auditions. Some were reciting their lines together, and Michael laughed over how overly dramatic they were. Unless that was just how theater went; then Michael couldn't complain. Still, Michael thought Gavin overshadowed all of them. With all the alone time he had to burn in the past, movies were something he was an expert on. He could tell good acting from bad acting, and Gavin was definitely up there. Sure, there was always room for improvement, but there was no denying that Gavin had talent.

Just as soon as he was tempted to sneak a peek at Gavin's audition, his phone buzzed. He leaned back, scrambling to get it out of his pocket and find out who was bothering him. When he got it out and unlocked his phone, he grinned when he read the sender's name.

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)  _hey michael_  
care to tell me where you guys are??  
and where you've been for the past week as well 

Michael was about to reply when another message arrived.

_ pls spare me the intimate details if any _

Michael rolled his eyes, chuckling over the thought. He knew it was a joke, but it was still weird to think about it that way. Sure, they were close, and in such a short amount of time, but he didn't think Gavin had any feelings for him. He wasn't even sure about his own feelings, but he believed they weren't romantic.

He ignored the thought that he wouldn't mind if they were, though.

The other problem he had to think about was his response. He knew Gavin didn't want anyone to know about his audition, but he couldn't hide from Lindsay forever. She'd find out one way or another, either by wrenching the truth out of Gavin or from Michael himself. Choosing to respect Gavin's decision, he replied.

_ we've been doing stuff that we boys do  
and not the buttsex kind _

Lindsay replied near immediately.

_ what kind of stuff? _

Michael sighed. He should have expected that.

_ like movie stuff. mall stuff. secret stuff that's between me and my boy. _

_ yeah?? because it seems more like you've been doing play audition stuff _

Michael didn't have to see her to know she had a smirk on her face. The same smug look she always had when she knew she was right, which she currently was. He was still busy thinking about how to reply when Lindsay sent another message.

__ listen  
don't bother trying to explain because it's ok  
i know why gavin told you and not anyone else 

Lindsay didn't respond for a while, but Michael could see she was typing, so he stayed quiet.

__ gavin really trusts you and you guys have like this weird bond  
it's something really special and i bet gavin knows it which is why he told you and you alone so im not mad  
but if you cant see that and you break my lil gavvy's heart, ill break your everything 

Michael laughed at the response. He wasn't sure if he totally agreed with Lindsay. He just really enjoyed Gavin's company, and he assumed Gavin felt the same. That's why they spent so much time together. They only had so much alone time that week because Gavin kept his audition a secret from everyone except for Michael. Therefore, Michael could be the only person to help him. That wasn't anything special.

Then again, Michael didn't exactly have enough relationships to really tell the difference.

Nevertheless, he answered her, telling her he would never think of doing that. He was going to read her reply when Gavin reappeared. He sat down in his seat, expression unreadable to Michael. When Gavin didn't speak, Michael did it for him. “So? How'd it go?”

Gavin glanced at Michael and then away, shaking his head. “Good. Maybe. I don't know.”

Michael chuckled and placed a hand on Gavin's shoulder, willing him to look at him. “Hey, calm down. I bet you did fine. What did they make you do?”

Gavin tensed initially, but he relaxed as Michael spoke. “Well, we learned this dance, right? All in a group, just following the leader and all.”

Gavin leaned back and Michael removed his hand. “That's it? You worried for nothing, then!”

“Well, no, Michael,” Gavin continued. “Then, when we finished, I was sure I had it down. Of course, with my luck, my name was called again. They put me in this little room with three people, and they asked me to dance what I just learned.”

Michael's eyes widened. “Well, maybe you did have something to worry about. How did that go?”

“It was okay,” Gavin said, sounding a bit more confident. “I think I was alright, since I didn't mess up or anything. Then I had to sing.”

“And that? How was it?”

“I thought they were going to tell me exactly what I needed to sing, but they didn't,” Gavin said, still confused. “They told me to sing anything I wanted, and it didn't even have to be Broadway related.”

“So what did you decide on? You've got the whole list memorized and then some,” Michael teased.

“Well, obviously I had to go for 'Sixteen Going on Seventeen'. It shows off my range,” Gavin pointed out, smiling. “Sang the whole thing through, and I think they liked it.”

“That's good!” Michael praised. “I think you've secured a callback.”

Gavin shrugged, not wanting to jump to conclusions. “You never know, Michael. They probably act like they love everyone's performances. If they're judging  _my_ acting, think of how much better they might be. They could have absolutely hated me, but act just like I did great.”

Michael shook his head as he stood, pulling Gavin to his feet as well. “Nah. You're too good for them to hate you.”

“You think so?” Gavin asked, grinning.

“I know so. Now, c'mon, I think you've got some explaining to do to Lindsay,” Michael laughed, already headed towards the door.

Gavin groaned, following him as his shoulders slumped. “She knows?”

“She does.” Michael pushed the door open, motioning for Gavin to leave first. Gavin shook his head, and Michael exited, laughing again as Gavin lowered himself nearly to the floor as he left.

“How did I not see this coming?” Gavin muttered as he stood, letting the door shut behind them.

  
  


  
  


A week later, Michael decided to visit his first choice on the after school activity list that Gavin forced him to create.

By Friday, the list of students to come for callbacks was posted, and Gavin was ecstatic to see his name on it. By then, talk of Gavin being in the play was spreading through the school quickly. The wishes of good luck that Gavin got each day boosted his confidence higher and higher, and Gavin wasn't feeling the nervousness he had during his first audition.

Since everyone was aware of Gavin's new—new to them, of course—passion, Lindsay, Ray, and Dan could join them when Gavin practiced. That weekend, the three of them sat in Gavin's room listening to Gavin and Michael exchange lines. Michael liked it much more when they were alone, but there was something exciting about performing in front of a crowd. He probably made a few more mistakes with all the eyes watching him, but Gavin's skill seemed to strengthen with an audience. He was louder and even more enthusiastic if it were even possible.

Dan and Ray watched with fascination. They would suggest ideas from time to time, usually to address something minor like Gavin's tone or expressions. Lindsay, however, was completely into it. She was critical of everything, from the obvious line corrections to even the slightest motion of his hands. She was right most of the time, as she usually was, but other things were too ridiculous to bother with. Most of the conversations revolving around those topics ended in fits of laughter and varied bouts of fighting, usually between Michael and Lindsay.

The day of Gavin's callback had come, as well as Michael's first after school meeting. Since they couldn't be together, Ray split up with Gavin, and Lindsay split up with Michael. Dan went off on his own to attend the video production club's first meeting, since he, Lindsay, and Gavin were interested in joining.

“I'll send you a text or something when I'm about to go, okay?” Gavin told Michael before they separated. “Keep your phone on vibrate or silent so you don't bother anyone, but watch out for it, okay?”

“Sure, Gavin,” Michael agreed, already putting his phone on vibrate. “Why?”

“It's just that, if I get nervous, I wanna talk to you,” Gavin admitted. “If I hear you, and you tell me it's gonna be okay, then I know it'll be okay.”

Michael smiled. “Jesus Christ, Gav. It's amazing how much trust you put in me. I don't know if I can carry that weight.”

Gavin shrugged, seeing no problem with it. “I don't know. It doesn't bother me. I really do trust you, and I believe you. I don't know why, but—”

Gavin was cut off when Ray grabbed his arm, pulling him away. “Gavin, if we don't hurry, you might be late. Wouldn't wanna miss out on your big shot, would you?” he teased.

Gavin shook his head as he laughed, following Ray. “Just remember that I'll text you or something, okay, Michael? Bye!” he called back.

Lindsay grinned. “See?” she said as soon as they were gone. “It's like you guys have this super strong bond that no one can break.”

Michael shrugged as they started walking towards the photography classroom. “Who knows, maybe it's because we've actually known each other a long time,” he joked.

Lindsay hoped Michael didn't hear the catch in her breath as she forced herself to refrain from stopping. “Yeah?” she almost choked out.

If he noticed, Lindsay didn't know. “Yeah. You know, like, reincarnation and all that? What if we knew each other in a previous life?”

Lindsay laughed, almost disappointed to realize that Michael really had no memory of the past. “Oh. Well, that's certainly a possibility.” She came up with a joke to change up the atmosphere. “What do you think you would have been? You might not have even been people.”

“Who knows?” Michael said, seriously thinking about the question. “With the way you talk about it, though, we could've been siblings or something.”

“Or lovers,” Lindsay teased, laughing at Michael's scowl.

“Stop that,” he said, although his words lacked any venom. “He probably doesn't even feel that way. I don't even know if _I_ feel that way.”

Lindsay continued to laugh. “It was just a joke. If you guys  _did_ end up together, though, I don't think it'd be much different than it is now. You guys are close enough as it is. It would just be more romantic.”

They reached their destination quickly. Lindsay opened the door for Michael who walked in first, and Lindsay followed in. They were surprised to find that the meeting hadn't started yet, and that the room wasn't even full of people.

The supervising teacher smiled at the two of them. “Yearbook, right? Have a seat, and we'll get started soon.”

Michael and Lindsay sat right next to each other, right by the front. Michael looked around the room, taking in his surroundings. The walls were covered with photographs taken by the students, and Michael thought they were amazing. He might not know much about photography, but he could tell these students had talent. Lining the walls were computers, which Michael assumed was for uploading the photos.

Lindsay caught him staring and asked, “This stuff's cool, isn't it?”

Michael nodded, turning to Lindsay. “Yeah.”

“The students here really are talented. They've got the everything from the colors to the contrast down. Really good work.”

“Are you into photography?” Michael asked, impressed by her criticism of the artwork.

“Me? No, I'm more into videography. You know the news announcements that come on every morning? That's the kind of thing I like. It's just that you come across this kind of terminology in any kind of visual art,” Lindsay shrugged. She stopped for a moment, but came up with a question. “Are you into art at all?”

“I guess?” Michael answered. “When I was younger, I had a lot of alone time. That meant I could do a lot of experimenting, so I did a lot of art. That's all, though. I never really expanded on it. Doesn't really mean I'm good at it.”

Lindsay smiled and leaned closer. “You should show me your art some time! What if you're actually really good at it? I wanna see!”

Michael laughed, pushing her away. “Alright, alright! Maybe today.”

Lindsay would have responded with a 'no, _definitely_ today', but the teacher spoke over them. She started the meeting by confirming that everyone there was there for the yearbook. Afterwards, she introduced herself and the current yearbook staff. 

“This is all going to be an introduction,” she said. “If you want to continue being a part of the yearbook, more will be explained as we progress.”

She went on about how the process went, what sections were due first, and the different jobs. Michael was most interested in layout—it was an individual job, and you worked mostly at the computer. Perfect for him. But he wouldn't mind being a photographer, as long as he didn't need to stop people he never met in the hallways for photos. Writing was probably out of the question if he needed to interview people for it.

When the teacher finished explaining the jobs, she passed around a piece of paper for everyone to sign. There were three sections for the three different jobs, and the students were instructed to sign up for what they wanted. Michael signed up for both photography and layout since there were so few people at the meeting, and he would probably get both jobs. After that, they were able to leave.

Lindsay and Michael chose to leave the classroom, but they stuck around outside. They sat outside the door, cross legged on the floor.

Lindsay was going to ask something when Michael's phone vibrated in his pocket. He didn't have to check to know it was Gavin. He expected a text, but Gavin had called him instead. Lindsay raised an eyebrow when Michael pulled out his phone, but Michael mouthed the words 'it's Gavin', and she nodded, mouthing an 'oh'. Lindsay moved closer and leaned in to hear whatever Gavin was saying. 

“Hey, Michael!” Gavin said cheerily. It was weird, considering his current situation. “I'm next.”

“Are you worried?” Michael asked, actually concerned. Gavin was acting much more nervous just a half hour ago.

“Not really, but I thought I'd call you anyway. Just to hear you.”

Michael smiled, even though Gavin couldn't see it. “Want us to head over there? The meeting's over, and we've got time.”

“Really? I thought I bothered you in the middle of the meeting—”

“Then why did you call? I couldn't have just picked up in the middle of it!” Michael laughed, almost amazed with Gavin's reasoning. He rolled his eyes and glanced at Lindsay, who laughed with him.

“I was going to hang up!” Gavin defended himself. “But you picked up immediately, so I thought, maybe they're just sitting around getting to know each other!”

Michael shook his head and continued to laugh. “Whatever, dude. Do you want us there or not?”

“Well, you can come over here, but I don't know that you'll catch me before I go in to audition.” Gavin stopped speaking for a second, but came up again. “Actually, you won't. I just got called in.”

Michael had stopped laughing, but the grin was still on his face. “Good luck, Gavin! We'll be right there!”

“Thanks, Michael! And Lindsay's probably listening, isn't she?”

“That I am,” Lindsay said, giggling. “Good luck! You'll do great, and if they don't think so, they can fight me!”

The three of them burst into laughter, and by the end of it, Michael was on the floor with the phone pressed against his ear. He put Gavin on speakerphone so Lindsay could hear him. “I gotta go, now! Bye, guys!”

Lindsay leaned over and yelled 'bye' into the phone, but it was really into Michael's ear, since Gavin hung up immediately. Michael rolled over and swatted her away, causing Lindsay to laugh even more. She stood up, giving Michael a hand to help him up. 

“Thanks,” he said bitterly, ridding himself of the dust that accumulated on his clothes. “I'm really glad that my ears are working.”

“No problem,” Lindsay continued to laugh. “Let's get over there before Gavin's audition is over.”

“Why does it matter?” Michael asked as they started to walk towards the theater room. “We won't be able to watch him.”

“Maybe, but we still have to be there. To support him. In spirit.”

“If it's in spirit, technically we can do that right here,” Michael smirked.

“It's different!” Lindsay pointed out. “We're not as close as we can be to him. It's not legit.”

Michael rolled his eyes, walking a little faster. “Fine. Let's go support him _legitimately_ in spirit.”

“That's the spirit!” Lindsay said with a laugh.

Michael had to force down a groan at that one, but he laughed anyway.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> slams fist on the table and AGGRESSIVELY needs to write more about lindsay dan and ray
> 
> maybe we'll give them a lotta love in a different chapter
> 
> but then its like filler vs plot progression
> 
> what 2 do


	11. Promise to Share

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've crawled out of the depths of hell to say hello
> 
> don't worry, i have every intention to finish what i've started. idk when tho lol. but it should be within this year
> 
> also yeah i got a new username lol. still me in here tho.  
> enjoy

Michael and Lindsay got to the chorus room as quickly as they could, eager to off their best friend the support he needed. Unfortunately, they weren’t fast enough to catch him before he had to inevitably enter the auditioning room, just as Gavin had predicted.

The duo sat patiently in the chorus room as they waited for Gavin to reappear. It had only been a few minutes, but they were already intensely engaged in a game of “guess-how-nervous-that-person-is-on-a-scale-of-one-to-ten-and-prove-why”. Michael seemed to have the upper hand, being that he was so accustomed to nervous quirks and such.

Discreetly leaning closer to Lindsay, but keeping his gaze away from her, Michael whispered, “The guy in the back, in the purple turtleneck.”

Just as carefully, Lindsay nodded so as to not draw attention to herself.

“I’m thinking he’s an eight.”

Lindsay let out a noise of disagreement before arguing against it. “No way. He looks _way_ too composed.”

“I thought so too,” Michael agreed, shifting in his seat so he didn’t have to keep leaning over her, “but look at his hands and his face. He’s shaking, and the kid’s sweating up a storm.”

Lindsay had to take a longer look at the kid in the turtleneck. Sure enough, Michael was right. He was talking with his hands, but they shook a little as he rehearsed. And, _god_ , once she really looked at his face, she realized that he really was drenched with sweat. “Jesus. Are his pores connected to Niagara Falls or something? Someone get that kid a towel!”

Lindsay slumped in the seat and crossed her arms, feeling smug about that comment. Michael had to bite his lip to keep himself from laughing. “Wish we could’ve seen Gavin and rated him on the nervousness scale before he went in.”

Just as the sentence left his mouth, the door to the auditioning room opened. A teacher—probably the chorus teacher, Michael guessed—stepped out with a clipboard. Following behind him was Gavin, looking absolutely wrecked.

“Damn, Gavin looks like it didn’t go so well,” Michael sighed.

Lindsay frowned, also taking a look at Gavin. “Yeah. I wonder what got him thinking like that?”

Gavin looked up from the floor and immediately saw Michael and Lindsay. His body relaxed, out of his stiff, concerned state, and he ran over to them, pulling them both out of their chairs and into a hug. “Guys… I don’t know what to think.”

Lindsay sighed, returning the hug as she wrapped an arm around Gavin’s waist. “You probably did fine, Gavin. What could have possibly gone wrong?”

Gavin’s grip tightened. “I don’t know, there were a couple of things that might’ve ruined it for me.” He paused, replaying the audition in his mind.

“Well, there’s really no point in agonizing over it now, Gavin,” Michael said, patting Gavin on the back. “It’s done, but you did your best.”

Gavin let go of his friends, shocked that Michael wasn’t being as supportive as he usually was. “But Mi—”

“What I mean is what’s done is done, but I know you did your best. And I know that your best is the best that those teachers could ever witness,” Michael reassured him.

Gavin went pink at the sudden praise. Unable to meet Michael’s gaze, he opted to stare at the floor. “I— thanks, Michael,” he mumbled.

“Don’t worry about it, Gavin.” Michael placed a hand on Gavin’s shoulder, bringing him a bit closer. “I seriously doubt that you fucked up. With all the practice and effort you put into it, it’s pretty much impossible at this point.”

“Yeah, Michael’s right!” Lindsay chimed in, closing the gap between the three of them as she pushed Gavin into Michael. She wrapped her arms around them again as the three started giggling.

“Thanks, guys,” Gavin said as he gave his friends a squeeze. After hearing his friends reason with him, his nerves calmed down. He relaxed, replacing the look of frustration and fear with one of his signature bright smiles. “If you can have so much confidence, then I guess I’ve got no choice but to believe it.”

“Hey,” Lindsay said, hugging her friends a little tighter, “since we’re pretty much convinced that Gavin did so well, let’s go celebrate this!”

Michael laughed at the suggestion, wriggling out of Lindsay’s grip. “And what do you have in mind, Lindsay? It’s a school night, and even then, it’s not like there’s much to do in this town.”

Lindsay grinned, letting Gavin go as well. “Well, then let’s just take a walk and look for something nice, why don’t we? Like an adventure! You never know what we might find.” Her gaze flicked back and forth from Michael to Gavin and back again expectantly, hoping to persuade them into agreeing.

After a short period of silence, Michael sighed, stepping next to Lindsay to face Gavin. “Okay, whatever. I’m in.” He shrugged. “It’s not like it really makes a difference to my parents since they won’t be home ‘til later. And Lindsay’s right, it could be fun.”

“Yes!” Lindsay cheered, giving Michael a high five. “So, Gavin? You in?”

“If you’re going to be so insistent, I might as well say yes,” Gavin laughed.

“Nice!” Lindsay grabbed their hands and led them towards the door. “This’s gonna be great, I can feel it!”

The trio exited the school, mostly engaged in simple conversations. They discussed the school day, how classes went, and how much homework they had for the night. Lindsay decided they’d be headed for the more city-like part of town. She claimed that it would be easier to find small businesses and shops and such there.

They followed the sidewalk as Lindsay led them down the streets. Each time they passed a potential spot to visit, they ended up debating its worth for so long that they’d be too far down the street to come back to it.

After walking for fifteen minutes, Gavin whined, “Lindsay! We’ve been out here for so long! Can’t we just pick something already?”

Lindsay huffed. “Okay!” She stopped suddenly, startling the two boys. “Then let’s stay here,” Lindsay suggested, pointing at the sign above them.

Michael and Gavin took in the old-fashioned storefront before them. It was a shorter building, but the greenery decorating the outside gave it a lot of color. Taking a look inside, it was clear that the place was a café.

The boys contemplated the place for a moment, not sure if this is what they really wanted.

“You wanted me to pick a place, so I did,” Lindsay defended herself.

“I guess it’s better than walking farther with no end in sight,” Gavin joked. “Also, this place looks nice, anyway.”

“I guess so. Yeah, let’s stay,” Michael agreed.

Lindsay grinned and grabbed the door handle, pulling it open for her friends to enter first. “Well then, gentlemen, after you!”

The three of them entered and quickly grabbed a table by the front windows. Gavin and Michael sat next to each other while Lindsay took the seat opposite of Gavin.

“It’s really homey in here, isn’t it?” Lindsay said, appreciating the atmosphere of the little café.

“Aren’t all of them like this?” Michael asked.

“Nah, Starbucks isn’t like this at all,” Lindsay argued, grabbing a menu. “This place feels more lived in, don’t you think?”

Michael definitely couldn’t disagree with that point.

“But maybe I’m biased,” Lindsay smiled. “I’ve been here a few times from since I was younger.”

Gavin laughed. “Don’t tell me that your plan was to get us to go here in the first place.”

Lindsay shrugged, laughing at the accusation. “Guilty as charged.” She flipped through the menu, looking for something eye-catching. “This isn’t like a special place or anything, just a good memory. But it’s a childhood memory, I guess. So that makes it special.”

A waitress came to their table to greet them and take their order. Lindsay ordered quickly, but Michael and Gavin, being so invested in conversation, never got a chance to look at the menu. Instead of wasting time, Lindsay ordered things for them, and the waitress was gone.

“Anyway,” Gavin began once the waitress had left, “I don’t remember you ever talking about this place when we were young.”

“Well, visiting a café isn’t really an occasion to brag about, Gavin,” Lindsay said, shifting to lean on her elbows as she cupped her face in her hands.

“I think we should know everything about each other, with how long we’ve been together!” Gavin pointed out.

“And we do!” Lindsay laughed. “I’m willing to bet I know almost every single thing about you. And vice versa.” She picked up a salt shaker, toyed with it, and pretended to look it over. “But, you know what we don’t know?”

“What is it?”

“We don’t know anything about you, Michael,” Lindsay said, pointing the salt shaker towards him. “So I think you should tell us a little about your childhood.”

Michael’s jaw dropped at the sudden question. His childhood? What about it? “I— There’s not— It isn’t—”

Gavin sighed, throwing his head back as he slumped in his chair. “Ah, it won’t work, Lindsay. He wouldn’t tell me anything when I asked him, either.”

Lindsay shook her head. “No, no, no! You gotta tell us, Michael!” She leaned over the table and grabbed his hands. “It’s only fair if we know about you, too!”

Michael wanted Lindsay to let him go, but was frozen in place at the realization of what was to come. He had to think of a way to distract her, a way to get out of her sudden interrogation. “W-Well, I don’t know anything about _your_ childhood.”

Lindsay released him, allowing him to relax. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “Okay, that’s fair enough.”

“Oh, then if we tell you about our childhood, then you’ll tell us about yours?” Gavin asked. “Then it’d be fair, right?”

Michael sighed. “Okay, sure. That’s fair.”

“Ooh!” Lindsay leaned back over the table to decide on a story to tell with Gavin. “What should we talk about?”

“Good question.” Gavin turned to Michael. “How far back do you want us to start?”

“I don’t care,” Michael answered bluntly. “It’s about you. I’ll be fine with anything I get.”

Gavin laughed. “Then we’ll just go as far back as we can and mention whatever comes to mind. I’ll start!” He hummed, thinking about something to talk about. “Well, okay, Lindsay and I met when we were… four or five?”

Lindsay nodded. “Something like that, yeah!” She laughed. “We became friends instantly.”

“We’ve had a lot of good times since then. We played house all the time, and Lindsay would come over almost every day. Until Dan showed up in our lives.”

“That was a big time skip,” Lindsay laughed.

“Well, nothing major really happened in between, did it?” Gavin sighed. “Except the bullying. But that’s not something I’d like to talk about.”

“That’s enough from us, isn’t it, Michael?” Lindsay asked. “Tell us a little about you.”

Since Lindsay and Gavin went that far back, Michael guessed he should as well. Besides, it would easiest for him to avoid talking about _his_ share of bullying. “I used to live here, when I was little, if that counts.”

Gavin gasped. “Of course that counts! Why didn’t you ever tell us about it before? What if we’ve met before?”

“I don’t think we have, Gavin. I’m pretty sure I’d remember a personality like yours,” Michael laughed.

“You might be right,” Gavin huffed, crossing his arms again. “After all, losing a childhood friend and meeting them again after ten years is a bit too unrealistic.”

“Sounds like something that’d happen in one of those shitty young adult books, right?” Lindsay asked, a grin stretching across her face.

Michael laughed. “Yeah, like that.”

Gavin moved to ask Michael more about his past, but the waitress returned with their orders before they could do so. Carefully, she placed their dishes in front of them one by one. None of them had any questions or needs, so the waitress left them to carry on with her work.

As soon as the waitress was gone, Michael deadpanned, “Lindsay, what the fuck am I looking at here?”

Lindsay laughed. “You don’t like them?”

Michael stared at the variety of sweets laid out in front of him. There were a couple of cake slices set in front of him, all of them in different pastel shades. Some were decorated with cute candied flowers or had animal faces drawn onto them. It was basically a little kid’s dream come true.

“I don’t know how I feel about it.”

“Oh, come on, Michael!” Gavin said, throwing an arm around Michael’s shoulder and bringing him closer. “They’re nice!”

Michael nearly fell out of his seat as Gavin pulled his chair closer. “Jesus Christ, Gavin! Don’t scare me like that.” Gavin gasped and let go of Michael to let him readjust in his seat. After he did so, he sighed. “Okay, but you’re right, they definitely don’t look bad.”

“Then let’s share one!”

Michael furrowed his brows at Gavin’s sudden enthusiasm. “Gavin, we’ve got three cakes here. You can just eat your own.”

“Right but, wouldn’t it be more fun if we shared?” Gavin pouted. “And Lindsay can share with us too, of course!”

“No, no,” Lindsay shook her head. She pulled one of the cakes away from them. “This is mine. You share those two.” Lindsay smiled, pointing to the plainer looking cake.

“How’s it fair that you get your own, Lindsay?” Gavin whined.

“I’m paying.”

Gavin groaned in defeat while Lindsay laughed, taking another bite of her cake. “It’s only fair, Gavin. This might be your celebration, but if I want my own cake, I’m getting my own cake.”

Gavin sighed, pulling the remaining two cakes to him and Michael. “Okay, well, Michael, which one do you wanna share first?”

“Can’t we just eat both at the same time?” Michael asked. “It just makes more sense that way.”

“No, Michael!” Michael was shocked at how adamant Gavin was. “It’s gotta be one at a time. What if all the flavors get conflicted? It’s only right to enjoy the cake one at a time.”

Michael laughed again. “Dude, it’s fucking cake.”

“Well, try telling that to Lindsay. She’ll kill you if you even think about mixing the cakes up.”

Michael would have been more shocked if Lindsay _wasn’t_ going to kill him if he suggested it. Still, his gaze shifted over to Lindsay, who was just about finished with her first slice of cake. “He’s right. I’ve taught him well.”

Michael laughed awkwardly, still unsure of whether or not he should feel threatened or just laugh it off. “Uh, okay, well then we can just eat this one first.” He pointed to the white cake decorated with yellow frosting.

“You’ll like that one,” Lindsay said, strangely confident.

“Yeah? What makes you say so?” Michael smiled.

“A gut feeling.”

 “Don’t worry about it, Michael. Lindsay and I have been friends forever. She knows the kind of stuff I like, so you’ll probably like it,” Gavin reassured him. “Do you want first bite?”

“I don’t care, Gavin. I’ll take it, you take it, whichever.”

Lindsay leaned over, holding her head in her hand. “You guys sound like newlyweds, cutting the first slice.”

Michael’s heart stopped for a second. He looked over at Gavin to see that his face was now a bright pink. He was about to say something, but Gavin beat him to it. “Lindsay! God, that’s embarrassing!”

Lindsay giggled. “I only speak the truth.”

“Here, Gavin.” Michael gave him a fork so that they could take bites of the cake by themselves. “We can just eat it at the same time.”

Gavin smiled and took the fork from him. “Thanks, Michael.”

The two dug their forks into the cake and took a bite simultaneously so that they could both have the first bite.

Michael was initially shocked at the sour taste, but it became sweet as he kept chewing. “Lemon?”

Lindsay shrugged. “I thought with how sour you were when we first met, lemon was meant for you.”

Michael would have gotten much angrier if this was some stranger, but Lindsay was Lindsay, so it was to be expected. “Oh, shut up.”

“But it’s good, isn’t it?”

Gavin nodded. “I’ve always liked lemon flavored things, though. Lindsay, you knew that.”

“So I killed two birds with one stone.” Lindsay smiled. “But you’re happy with it, aren’t you?”

After a moment, both boys nodded. “Yeah.”

Lindsay’s smile widened. “Good.”

The three kept eating for a little while before Gavin asked, “Oh, Michael, do you want this little flower?”

“What? You have flowers?” Michael asked, shocked that Gavin would have kept flowers without water for so long.

“No, no,” Gavin laughed. “This one.” He pointed to the decorative icing flower on the cake slice. “Do you want it?”

Michael sighed. “Gavin, it doesn’t matter to me. We’re still both eating the cake.”

“Well, I just thought you might want it. I don’t know why. But I just wanted you to have it.”

“We’ll split it in half then, Gavin.” Michael cut the remaining slice in half, right down the center of the flower.

“Thanks, Michael!” Gavin grinned. Michael couldn’t help but smile back.

“Yeah, yeah.”

The first cake was finally devoured, and the third cake was left sitting there.

“So, Lindsay, what kind of cake is it?” Gavin asked.

“Actually, I don’t know,” she admitted. “It was new, and I wanted to try it. But it looks nice, doesn’t it?”

The cake in question was a small slice that was again decorated with white icing. The cake itself was brown, and the filling was a dark red.

Gavin picked up the plate and observed the cake. “Well it certainly doesn’t look bad.”

“So what is it? Some kind of chocolate or mocha kind of cake? The strawberry stuff inside looks kind of weird, though. Doesn’t seem like it would go with mocha.”

“Actually,” Lindsay started, taking the plate away from Gavin before he eventually dropped it, “it’s a peanut butter and jelly cake.”

Michael rolled his eyes. “Of course you’d want to try something like that.”

“And you wouldn’t?” Lindsay smiled.

“I guess I would.” Michael watched her cut the cake into three equal pieces. “What’s in it then, just peanut butter and jelly?”

Lindsay nodded. “Yeah, it’s unsalted peanut butter in the cake, and there’s pluot jam for the filling. I think it’ll be good.”

As soon as the cake was cut evenly, the three were immediately taking bites of their shares of the cake.

Lindsay hummed. “It’s actually pretty good. I didn’t know what to expect, since it was peanut butter and jelly, but it turned out to be way better than I thought.”

Gavin smiled. “Yeah, this is really good.”

Michael shrugged. “It definitely doesn’t suck.”

The three finished the cake quickly since they had one extra person sharing it. When it was done, the waitress returned to collect the dirty dishes and bring the check. Lindsay paid off the bill, but Michael and Gavin offered to pay the tip. Within a few minutes, they were out of the café.

As they exited, Gavin held the door open for his two friends. “Thanks for taking us here, Lindsay.”

“Don’t thank me, Gavin. This was just to celebrate you, anyway. Plus, I wanted to come here anyway,” she smiled.

“I still don’t get why you didn’t just tell us to come here in the first place, Lindsay,” Michael pointed out as he left the café. Shutting the door behind him, he continued. “If you knew about this place, then why didn’t you just tell us about it instead of pretending like you didn’t have a clue about where we’d be going?”

Lindsay laughed as they began to walk down the street. “Well, I actually wasn’t set on coming here from the beginning. But we’d already walked so far out here that I thought it was worth it to go a little farther and come here.”

Michael sighed. “But now it’ll take us double the amount of time it usually takes to walk home.” He looked up at the sky which was already starting to lose its blue color, opting for the warm colors of the setting sun. “And it’s gotten pretty late.”

Gavin sighed. “Then that means you can’t come over?”

“That’s not it, it’s just that we’ll have to walk longer than we would have from the school.”

Lindsay shook her head. “No, it’s okay. It’s really not that far from home. It’s about the same.” The guys looked a bit skeptical, but Lindsay reassured them, “Trust me, I’ve been here quite a few times, so I know how long it takes to get back.”

The trio walked back down the sidewalk on their way home, led by Lindsay. They made small talk on the way home, talking about the little things and making stupid jokes.

“It’s getting cold, isn’t it?” Michael mentioned.

Gavin hummed. “Well, it’s getting to be winter soon. Of course it’s getting cold.”

Lindsay shook her head. “Idiot, that’s not what you say. You offer him your jacket like a gentleman.”

Gavin’s face went red again. “I—I mean, if you want it, Michael, then I mean—”

Michael started laughing at Gavin’s sudden offer. “God, shut up, Gavin. I’m not that cold. But thanks for the offer.”

“No problem,” Gavin smiled, although the blush was still there.

Like Lindsay promised, the walk home was only a little longer than it would have if they had walked home from school. Gavin invited them both over, so all three of them piled into his house, eager to rest their legs from the walk home.

Geoff came out of the kitchen and into the entry. “Hey, where’ve you been?”

“Oh! Geoff!” Gavin perked up, kicking his shoes off. “Well, my callback was today, and to celebrate, Lindsay took us to this cute café. We tried some cakes, and they were pretty good.”

“Really? What kind of cake?”

“There was a peanut butter and jelly one which was weird,” Lindsay said. “But the other was lemon.”

“Lemon?” Geoff asked, surprised.

“Yeah, I like lemon flavored stuff, Geoff, so it wasn’t bad,” Gavin reassured him.

Geoff shook his head. “No, that’s not a problem.”

“Then why were you surprised?”

“It’s nothing,” Geoff waved him off. “Gonna do homework or something?”

Gavin nodded. “Oh, yeah. I hope it’s okay that I brought them over?”

Geoff shrugged. “And if I said it wasn’t?”

“You wouldn’t,” Gavin challenged.

Geoff put his hands up in mock defeat. “You got me.”

Gavin laughed. “C’mon Michael, Lindsay, let’s go upstairs!” He was already racing up the stairs, and Michael trailed behind him, laughing as Gavin nearly tripped over the rug at the top of the stairs.

Lindsay moved towards the stairs, but Geoff stopped her in place by pressing his hand against the wall. “Lemons?”

Lindsay smiled. “It was a harmless experiment. I just wanted to help.”

Geoff sighed. “If seeing him wasn’t enough to get Gavin to remember, I don’t know what good lemons will do. After all, you heard him, he likes lemon anyway.”

“I know that, but…” she trailed off, trying to find a way to phrase her thoughts. “It’s like, they shared lemon cake together. On their _wedding_ day,” she said, air quotes around wedding. “I was hoping they might remember that specifically.”

“And they didn’t?” Geoff sighed.

“Actually, something interesting happened.”

Geoff looked at her confused. “Go on?”

“The cake had a frosting flower on it. Gavin offered it to Michael, saying he thought Michael should have it.”

Geoff looked hopeful for a moment, but eventually sighed. “It must be a coincidence.”

Lindsay shrugged. “You never know. It could be the beginning of them remembering their lost love.” She smiled, almost giggling.

Geoff couldn’t do anything but smile back. “If you’re so confident, then I’ll take it. I just want him to be happy.” He paused. “No, I want _them_ to be happy.”

Lindsay smiled. “So do I.”

Geoff removed his hand from the wall, allowing Lindsay to pass. “Okay, well, go work your love fairy magic.”

Lindsay nodded and slowly headed up the stairs. Geoff returned to the kitchen.

_“Love fairy magic, huh?”_ It was easier said than done. After all, neither of them showed any signs of remembering the past. Even outright asking them what they remember did nothing. It seemed like those memories had just completely disappeared.

But she could never just _tell them_ how their past was really like. There was too much to risk in doing that. They might end up hating each other. They had to remember it themselves for it to be right.

And Lindsay was partially responsible for it. After all, she knew Gavin was beginning to forget Michael. She didn’t stop it. She had to fix it.

Lindsay opened the door to Gavin’s room, ready to get her homework done. As soon as she stepped inside, she found Michael and Gavin sitting next to each other on the floor, up against the bed, sleeping softly.

For a moment, Lindsay entertained the idea of waking them up, but decided against it. After all, they had a long day. They deserved a break.

She picked up a blanket on Gavin’s bed and covered them with it carefully, so as to not wake them up. As soon as they were covered, Lindsay left the room quietly.

She bounded down the stairs, catching Geoff’s attention. “What happened? Aren’t you doing homework?”

Lindsay smiled. “Not needed. The love fairy has worked her magic.” When Geoff gave her another confused look, she elaborated. “They’re sleeping. Don’t wake them until absolutely necessary.”

“Don’t they have homework?”

“That’s why I said _absolutely necessary_ ,” she laughed as she began packing up her things. “Give them an hour to rest.”

“And you can’t do that?” Geoff asked.

Lindsay sighed. “Okay, fine. I’ll be back later.” She slung her backpack onto her shoulder and opened the door. “I’ll be back in an hour!” With that, she shut the door, and made her way towards her house.

 

A few days later, the finalized cast list was posted for the play. Gavin was dreading checking the list all day, and refused to look unless Michael or Lindsay was there with him. Gavin was a nervous wreck for most of the day, and people were catching on quickly. Both Michael and Lindsay had to make excuses for his behavior, most of which were half-assed and made no sense.

Finally, at lunch, when all of them were free, Gavin grabbed their hands and dragged them straight to the board where it was posted. When they approached it, Gavin covered his eyes, refusing to look. Much to his disappointment, Michael and Lindsay refused to tell him what part he got for him.

Exasperated, Gavin whined, “Just tell me! Yes or no?”

“We haven’t even looked at it ourselves. Just stop being a baby and look!” Michael chided him.

Lindsay nodded. “Gavin, if you don’t you won’t know.”

Gavin lowered his hands cautiously. “Okay. One look. If my name isn’t there, my name isn’t there. That’s all, right? That’s all!”

Lindsay sighed. “Gavin, you’re the only one that’s freaking out about this. Just look!” She pushed him, forcing his hands away from his face so that he could catch himself on the wall.

Gavin stared at the list, quickly scanning it for his name. For a short time, the hallway was dead silent.

Lindsay and Michael were shocked. They shared a knowing look of concern.

“Uh, Gavin, listen…” Lindsay started.

“You can be as upset as you want today, okay?” Michael continued.

“Yeah, uh… We were so sure that—”

“Guys,” Gavin cut them off, and they were immediately silent. Gavin turned around slowly with tears in his eyes. “Guys, I made it.”

Immediately, Lindsay and Michael’s faces brightened. Gavin pulled them into a hug as they celebrated in the hallway.

“I did it!” Gavin cheered. “I got the part of Rolf!”

“Hey, congrats, Gavin!” a voice suddenly said.

The three of them froze in place, afraid that they were about to get in trouble for making so much noise.

“Whoa, whoa, guys!” Ryan appeared from around the corner. “Why’d you stop?”

Gavin sighed. “Jesus, Ryan! You can’t just appear like that and not expect us to freak out! Your deep voice and commanding presence is too much to handle sometimes.”

“Comm—” Ryan sighed, used to Gavin’s sudden bouts of idiocy. “Anyway, I came to check the cast list.” He moved to the board and took a quick look at the board. As soon as he got there, he smiled widely. “Oh, yay! I’m the captain.”

“What?!” Gavin exclaimed, rushing over to the board, nearly knocking Ryan over. “How didn’t I notice it?” He double checked the list. “Ryan! You lied! Your name isn’t here!”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “Yes, it is! It’s right there!” He pointed to his name on the list.

“Ryan, you idiot! Your name isn’t James!” Gavin argued back.

“Gavin, my name is James Ryan Haywood. It’s right there. That’s me.”

Gavin’s eyes widened. “Then how didn’t we see each other while auditioning?”

“Maybe we chose different days,” Ryan suggested, shrugging.

Gavin felt like his head was spinning. “Ryan… This is too much to take in at once.”

Ryan chuckled. “Well, on the bright side, we’re together in the play.”

Lindsay laughed, moving everyone closer together. “Well, then, this calls for yet another celebration!” She pulled them all into a hug. “Congratulations to Ryan and Gavin for making it into the play!”

Michael sighed. “And props to me and Lindsay for being here for them, I guess, since we really haven’t done anything. But good on us!”

“No, you guys are important! I really appreciate you guys! Especially after yesterday!” Gavin laughed.

“You know what I would really appreciate?” Ryan interjected. “If we all let go of each other and went to get some lunch. I’d really like that.”

Ryan’s comment earned a laugh from everyone. All four broke out of the hug and decided to head to the lunchroom, joking and thinking about the fun they would have with the play.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ryan has studied theatre and tbh that still fucks me up


	12. Promise to Be with You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know it's weird, but i'm not dead !  
> dw im still like a huge rtah fan and i have 0 intentions of abandoning this fic. it will absolutely be finished!  
> ik i kept saying that i would finish it soon and didnt keep those promises but this time i do promise that whether or not i like it, this will be finished soon. no more year long gaps between updates! i think at this point we have maybe 5 to 7 chapters left in this fic, which is kind of sad but also really good! because ull b able to see the conclusion lmao
> 
> **also please understand, this fic was written before kdin came out as trans. i debated this for a long time but i decided that ultimately i would keep the previous chapters as is where she is referred to w he/him. she comes out to michael in this chapter and from then on she is referred to w she/her. i thought that was the best option, it seemed more realistic, yknow?

“So,” Lindsay started, clapping her hands together, “I think this calls for a celebration.”

Gavin and Michael looked up from their lunches to give Lindsay a questioning look. “What?” they asked, almost in perfect unison.

Lindsay sighed, placing her fork down and leaning on her elbow. “You know,” she started, gesturing vaguely with her other hand, “a celebration, for like, getting into the play and all.”

Gavin gasped, quickly sitting up straight. “You’re right!” He leaned back, crossing his arms. “After all, I went through all that stress and worked so hard, I deserve it!” Michael shook his head and sighed, getting a laugh out of Gavin.

“Oh, but, it shouldn’t just be me, of course.” Gavin placed his hands on the table and leaned forward, looking over at Ryan’s side of the table. “Hey, Ryan!”

Ryan, surprised by the sudden call, nearly choked on whatever he was chewing, but acknowledged Gavin anyway. “Yes, Gavin?” he called back, in between coughing fits.

“We want to celebrate the fact that we got into the play! After school, at the mall! You’ll come, won’t you?” Gavin asked, an expectant smile on his face.

Ryan shrugged and turned to speak with the people at his end of the table. It was a conversation that Gavin couldn’t quite hear, but it ended quickly. Ryan turned back to Gavin, saying, “Sure, why not? Can Jack come?”

Gavin grinned even wider, if possible. “Of course!” Ryan gave him a quick thumbs up and went back to eating, ending the conversation.

Gavin sunk back into his seat, smiling. Lindsay scoffed, resting her head in her hands. “I don’t remember letting you choose where we were going, when, and with who.”

“Aww, come on, Lindsay,” Gavin whined, resting his face on the table. He looked up at her with the best puppy dog eyes he could muster, earning a disgusted look from Michael. “It’s a celebration for me, I should get to choose, right?”

Before Lindsay could answer, he shot up straight in his chair, effectively scaring the shit out of Michael. “Besides, it’s more fun with more people, right?” As if that wasn’t enough of a scare, Gavin turned and grabbed Michael’s hands without warning, allowing whatever was left of his soul to leave his body. “Michael, is there anyone you want to invite?”

After taking a second to breathe, Michael thought about anyone he could potentially invite. Other than Gavin and Lindsay, who he basically spent every waking moment with, there were very few candidates. “I guess… maybe… Kdin?” he asked more than answered.

“Oh, yeah! You guys were really good friends in the beginning of the year.” Without letting go of Michael’s hands, Gavin stood up, pulling Michael up along with him. “It’ll be easier to go to Kdin than it will be to yell across the table,” he explained, dragging Michael towards the opposite end of the table.

When they got there, Gavin gave Michael a little push to get him to open the conversation. Michael gave him a look, but turned back to Kdin and his group of friends. “Uh, hey, Kdin.”

Kdin stopped mid-sentence and turned to Michael with a smile. “Hey, Michael! What’s up?”

“Well,” he started, suddenly unable to speak. Michael gestured wildly with his hands, as if trying to grasp the words he needed. “Me and Gavin, and some others, we wanted to know if you wanted to hang out, today after school?” he finally pieced together.

Kdin frowned. “Oh, that sounds fun.” He glanced at the others at his table and looked back at Michael apologetically. “But I’ve already made plans with my friends here, so…” he trailed off.

Gavin leaned close to Michael, whispering, “Friends are invited too, you know.”

Without realizing he was speaking too loud, Michael replied, “Well, I don’t know if his friends want to come.” As he spoke, he glanced at the people at Kdin’s table and realized one was staring him down. Angrily.

Instinctively, Michael balled up his fists in response. Gavin noticed the action immediately and grabbed Michael’s right hand, coaxing him to relax.

Kdin must have noticed too, because he glanced at the kid that was staring Michael down, looked at Michael, and back to the kid. “Jeremy,” Kdin said, sighing, “it’s okay.”

“No, it’s not,” the kid, who Michael assumed was Jeremy, practically growled.

“He doesn’t know,” Kdin explained. “Well, yet, I guess.”

Michael had finally relaxed his hands, and Gavin let go of him. “Doesn’t know what?” Michael asked.

Kdin glanced around for a moment before motioning for Michael to move in closer. Confused, Michael bent down a bit, enough for them to be at eye level. “Listen, I trust you, Michael,” Kdin whispered. “So I’m letting you know that I’m… transgender. Which means that I identify as a girl, not a guy. So when you talk about me, please use she instead of he, okay?”

Michael nodded. It wasn’t a new concept to him, but he’d never known anyone like that personally. Still, he knew enough to know that it was downright humiliating to not have anyone take you seriously or respect you, so Michael vowed to support Kdin, whoever h- …she was. “Okay, Kdin. I’ll try not to make that mistake again.”

Gavin gave Michael a questioning look when Michael stood up straight again, but Michael waved him off. “Anyway,” Michael began again, “what Gavin was saying was, if you want, your friends can come too.”

“Oh!” Kdin smiled again. She turned to her friends, who were locked in their own conversation at that point. “Hey, guys,” she interjected, quickly getting her friends’ attention. “Do you wanna hang out with Michael and Gavin today?”

Her friends seemed to think about it for a moment, but they quickly agreed to it. Kdin turned back to Michael with a smile. “Okay, everyone’s on board! Where are we meeting and when?”

“After school at the mall!” Gavin answered for Michael. “We’ll meet you by the entrance!” With that, Gavin grabbed Michael’s hand again and dragged him back to their seats. Michael could barely give a goodbye wave to Kdin.

Lindsay sat patiently, watching the two of them as they sat down. “I take it that they agreed?” she asked.

“Yeah, they’re coming,” Michael answered, deciding to pack his lunch away rather than continue to eat.

“What about you, Lindsay?” Gavin asked, doing the same. “Is there anyone you want to bring?”

Lindsay shook her head. “Well, Dan and Ray seem like they’re busy, and I don’t really see a point in inviting anyone from my end if the celebration is for you and Ryan.”

Gavin huffed, crossing his arms. “I said it would be more fun if we have more people, Lindsay. If there’s anyone you want to bring, you can invite them!”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Lindsay laughed, waving him off. “It’s not like I really know anyone other than you dorks, anyway.” Gavin gasped at the word ‘dorks’ and opened his mouth to explain how they were very much indeed _not_ dorks, but the bell rang before he could say anything.

At the sound of the bell, Gavin grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder, as if in a hurry. Already halfway turned around, he pulled out his phone and called back at Michael and Lindsay. “Sorry, guys,” he apologized, waving his phone in the air. “I have to get to class quick, but I promise to text everyone the location and time, okay?” Before Michael or Lindsay could answer, Gavin had already run off into the crowd.

Shocked, Michael stared at the crowd that Gavin had so quickly disappeared into. “Wonder what’s got him in a rush?”

Lindsay sighed, shrugging her shoulders. “Who knows?” She stood up and began packing her stuff away, listing off possibilities as she worked. “Maybe he’s resolved to pull himself together in that class, or he pissed off the teacher so he’s trying to prove he’s not a delinquent, or…” She trailed off, trying to think of any other overused tropes that might explain Gavin’s behavior.

She snickered, thinking of another. “Or maybe he made a promise to meet up with the person he likes before class?” She burst into laughter just thinking about it, barely being able to finish the sentence.

She expected Michael to laugh along with her, but when she didn’t hear anything from him, she paused and looked his way. Instead of a smile, there was a look of shock on his face—one that shocked her as well.

She wanted to say something, something like _,_ _“Wait, fuck, that’s not what I meant,”_ but nothing came out.

Eventually, Michael spoke up, asking, “Is… Is there seriously someone that Gavin likes?”

“No way.”

A hand fell onto Michael’s shoulder and he turned in surprise to find himself staring up at Ryan. “Well, I mean, I don’t know.” Ryan removed his hand and apologized for being so sudden. He then shrugged, adding, “I mean, he’s so busy being friends with everybody. I doubt there’s a special someone in his life.”

“Oh,” was the only thing Michael could say, too caught up in the idea of Gavin being in love with someone, for some reason he couldn’t figure out.

Ryan sighed, not really knowing what to do in this situation. “I, uh, sorry again about so randomly butting into the conversation.” He gestured with his hands, looking for the words he wanted to say. “I was looking for Gavin, to ask him where we should meet after school. And then, well, he wasn’t here, and you guys were talking and I overheard you, and…” He was hoping Michael would understand and finish the conversation, but to no avail. “And, so, yeah, I just thought I’d say something.”

Lindsay shook her head and walked up to the two of them, patting Ryan on the back. “No worries, Ryan. Gavin said he’d text everyone before school’s over.” She gave him a smile and a tentative thumbs up, silently telling him not to worry too much.

Ryan got the message and nodded. “Right, okay.” He spotted Jack leaving without him and started to move towards that direction. “Okay, well, see you guys later!” And then he was off.

Lindsay waved him off and looked back to Michael, who was still staring off into space. With a long sigh, she slapped his back, making him fall forward. He caught himself quickly, but the action earned Lindsay a long string of angry curses, which she was happy to hear. “Geez, I didn’t think _this_ of all things would be your undoing.

Pulling his backpack up on his shoulder after being so rudely pushed, Michael furrowed his brow at her words. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

Lindsay snickered again, shaking her head. “Gavin’s love life got you all messed up.”

To his dismay, Michael’s face reddened. He struggled to come up with an excuse. “What the— It’s just— I was just thinking—” He fumbled for the right words, trying to explain himself for being so caught up in it without being too weird about it. “I thought that, if he had someone he liked, I would know, so when you said that, I felt...” he trailed off.

What _did_ he feel, anyway? Michael really didn’t know.

“I was just… surprised, is all.” Michael decided that was probably the best way to put it.

Lindsay seemed unconvinced, but she agreed anyway. “Yeah, yeah, okay. Sure.” She debated whether or not she should keep her mouth shut, but decided to speak anyway. “Besides, if you care so much, you can just ask him after school,” she said with a laugh.

Michael felt his face heat up again. “Shut up.”

 

 

As promised, Gavin texted the group right before the last bell rang. He set the meeting time for three o’clock, right at the front entrance. He figured that would give everyone enough time to bring their stuff at home and make it back to the mall.

At three, as promised, Gavin showed up with Michael and Lindsay. Ryan and Jack seemed to be waiting there since school got out, since they drove straight from the high school to the mall. Within a few minutes, Kdin showed up with the three guys she was with at lunch. They introduced themselves to Michael as Matt, Jeremy, and Trevor.

After the shared pleasantries, the group entered the mall and officially began the “celebration”. They spent a few hours doing some window shopping, entering stores and essentially wreaking havoc. It began with a couple of generic clothing stores. They went in and actually looked at the clothes and considered purchasing them, nothing special. Half the group thought it was a productive way to spend their time, but the other half saw it as a waste.

Which led to that half dragging the half that was having a perfectly good time into the department stores. Jeremy had the genius idea of starting a fashion competition. Except they weren’t fighting for the title of best dressed—they were looking to be the _worst._ The competition was tournament style. Each person got five minutes to run around the floor and look for the worst set of clothes they could find. At the end of the five minutes, they got time to change. Whoever came out looking worse would advance.

Most of the outfits were pretty bad, but some were definitely worse than others. Those who were eliminated early were Jack in a tropical shirt and some shorts, Michael in a weird leather jacket with a wolf on the back, Kdin in a dress with an ugly color combination (who probably wouldn’t have been eliminated if she hadn’t gone up against someone with an even _uglier_ color combination), and Lindsay, somehow, finding an outfit with every piece covered in cats or cat paw prints. Gavin got lucky and skipped to the final round.

Trevor and Matt got through the first round with some dysfunctional outfits, but eventually lost to Ryan and Jeremy. In the end, it was Jeremy, Ryan, and Gavin all up against each other. Jeremy, for all three rounds, somehow managed to find three horrifying outfits, all in purple and orange. Ryan got through not because his outfit was the ugliest, but because it was the creepiest, and he continued that trend for the final round. Gavin, having not yet gone against anyone, went for a strategy that no one had gone for yet—a ridiculous amount of jewelry on top of the douchiest outfit he could make.

It was a tough choice for those who were eliminated, but Jeremy ended up winning. He was wearing a prison orange shirt, bright yellow dress pants, a royal purple suit jacket, and, to top it all off, a white cowboy hat. It was probably the worst thing anyone could lay their eyes on.

After that, they spent a little more time in the department store, running around and messing with the furniture, the makeup and perfume, and anything else they could get their hands on. It was a _mess_.

And that was exactly what Michael thought as he watched, horrified, as Lindsay sprayed herself every kind of perfume she was allowed to touch.

It didn’t stop there. They stepped into a Bath and Body Works and, suddenly, Jeremy, Matt, and even Gavin were obsessed with trying out every kind of hand soap at the sink. They must have washed their hands at _least_ twelve times. If not more than that.

And, once again, Michael watched, slightly less horrified, as Lindsay sprayed herself with every perfume bottle labeled “try me”.

They realized it was time to leave once the hand washing team then became obsessed with smelling every candle they could find. The seniors had to drag their little sophomore friends out of the store, and they ended up finding themselves at the movie theater that was joined to the mall.

It was getting a little late, so they ultimately decided against a movie, but _did_ take full advantage of the small arcade area in the front. Jeremy insisted on playing with Ryan, his “battle buddy”, in the shooter game. Trevor and Jack were drawn to the retro games, and they ended up taking turns playing Space Invaders. The others decided to take turns racing each other.

After quite a while, they were about to leave to get dinner together, but something else stopped them. The animal riders.

“We have to ride them!” Gavin practically yelled, running for the stand. “We have to!” he repeated.

Jeremy and Matt ran after him, agreeing, while Michael and Kdin shared a look and reluctantly agreed to follow.

“I guess we have no choice,” Jack sighed, shaking his head.

Ryan laughed, agreeing. “I mean, it looks fun, doesn’t it?”

Jack gave Ryan a look, silently asking, “ _are you fucking kidding me?”_ Ryan would have responded, but Jack had already left to follow the rest of them before he could.

Ryan was going to follow, but Lindsay grabbed his arm, stopping him in place. Confused, he gave Lindsay a questioning look. “Everything… all right?”

“Oh, yeah,” Lindsay nodded. “I’m just, thirsty is all.” She was silent for a moment before she continued, confusing Ryan even more. She then suddenly looked up, surprising him. “Come with me to get a drink?”

Still puzzled, but not wanting to ask anything if she didn’t want to tell, he agreed. “Yeah, sure.”

“Great.”

The two of them walked together, silently, towards the nearest food place. Ryan kept glancing at Lindsay, but she looked so deep in thought and almost pained. He wanted to say something, but he couldn’t figure anything out.

He watched her order, pay, and receive her drink wordlessly. Even as she turned away from the counter, she sipped her drink and looked in a different direction, away from him.

It was probably the most stressful moment of Ryan’s life. Not even college apps were this bad.

“Hey, Ryan…” Lindsay started, trailing off.

“Yeah?” he responded, almost too quickly.

She looked up at him, down at the drink, and then back up at him. “If I… tell you something. You won’t think it’s crazy or anything, right? Like, you’ll listen to me.”

She looked worried, which worried Ryan even more. “Yeah, of course,” he responded, hoping not to say anything wrong.

Lindsay sighed in relief. There was a long pause before she said anything. “Well, there’s these two people. And I know they’re supposed to be together. Or, at least, they definitely should. But it’s… It’s like, they don’t know. They aren’t together. Well, they are, but not in the way they should be.” Lindsay groaned, squeezing her cup. She seemed frustrated, like she didn’t know how she should be saying this. “And I just want to help them, you know? But it’s like they’re too dense to get it!” Her grip tightened, and Ryan laughed.

Again, Lindsay sighed. Her grip relaxed, and her frustration melted into worry. “I just want them to be happy. Together. But I don’t want to intervene too much, or it won’t feel real.” She stopped again, thinking. “But I also know I have to do _something_ , or nothing will ever happen.”

Ryan smiled, happy to see that his friend was trying so hard for other people’s happiness. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t know exactly who she was talking about, since he knew exactly how she was feeling. “You’re talking about Michael and Gavin, aren’t you?”

Lindsay looked up at Ryan so surprised that she almost dropped her cup. “I— uh, you, you knew?” she stuttered, absolutely floored.

Ryan shrugged, laughing, half out of relief that what was troubling Lindsay wasn’t that heavy, and half because it was just so funny that she really thought he had no idea. “Well, yeah. It’s kind of obvious that those two have some sort of connection.” Ryan paused, humming, trying to figure out how to explain. “It’s like, I don’t know, soulmates. Like they just… fit together, almost too perfectly.” He stopped again, remembering something with a laugh. “Also, with the way Michael responded at lunch to the idea of Gavin being in love with anyone… of course they’d be the ones you were talking about.”

“Oh my God, I’m so glad you agree,” Lindsay laughed, her shock fading into relief. She tapped Ryan’s arm, telling him that they should start walking back.

“So, let me guess. You asked _me_ because now that Gavin and I are in the play together, we spend more time together, alone, away from Michael, and you want me to help out,” Ryan predicted. “Am I right?”

Lindsay laughed, glad that Ryan got the message. “I mean, you’re a schemey guy, Ryan. Even if you weren’t in the play with Gavin, I probably still would have asked you.”

Ryan didn’t know if he should have been offended or pleased with that comment, so he chose not to respond to it. “Anyway, so what do you want me to do?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Lindsay shrugged, continuing to sip her drink. “Simple things. Just ease it into conversation.” She moved her head from side to side, thinking of things Ryan could do. “Like, just a kind word or two about Michael, mention if you talked to him recently, discreetly ask about Gavin’s feelings about Michael, I guess?”

“Gotcha.”

“Hey, Lindsay! We were wondering where you went!”

Their attention was drawn to Gavin, who was running up to them from the animal ride stand. He gasped, seeing the drink in her hand. “You went to get stuff without us?” he asked, with exaggerated mortification. “We were gonna get dinner right after this, Lindsay!”

“Oh, c’mon. It’s just one thing,” she said, waving him off. “Besides,” she peered behind Gavin to see the rest of the group still riding the animals, “it doesn’t look like we’ll be going any time soon.”

Gavin turned around to see that _everyone_ had decided they wanted to go for another round. If not more. Disappointed, he turned back to Lindsay, who had a smug grin on her face.

“Touché.”

 

 

Eventually, Gavin and Lindsay were able to convince everyone to get up and go get something to eat. They decided on a little restaurant that was partly built into the mall, which might have been a mistake.

Gavin shook his head, resting his face in his hands. “I never would have thought that _Ryan_ of all people would have been the hardest to convince,” he muttered as he watched the rest of the plates get cleared away.

“Oh, come on, Gavin. You were the one who suggested we ride them in the first place,” Ryan pointed out.

“I did, but I went _once!_ ” Gavin retorted, pressing his palms into the table. “If we hadn’t stopped you, you probably would have gone for a third ride!”

“Nah,” Ryan laughed, shrugging it off.

Gavin gave him an angry look, expecting an actual answer. When none was given, he sighed, slumping back into his chair and crossing his arms. “Yes, you would have,” he muttered again, taking a sip of whatever was left of his drink.

Ryan leaned on his elbow and stared at Gavin for a good five seconds, making Gavin extremely uncomfortable. Gavin was about to ask if something was wrong when Ryan suddenly asked, “Gavin, is there anyone you have a crush on or anything?”

In unison, Gavin, Michael, and Lindsay all dropped what they were doing and stared at Ryan, wide-eyed and in disbelief. The rest of the table seemed to overhear and listened curiously as well.

Gavin, having been drinking something right before Ryan asked, was struggling not to choke on it. In between coughs, he asked incredulously, “Ryan, what are you talking about?”

Ryan laughed, a bit too happily for the situation. “What? It was just a question. I was just curious.”

Lindsay held her head in her hands, unable to say or do anything. ‘ _I want to die. I want to curl up and just die,’_ was all she could think.

Gavin’s face flushed as he thought about the question. Unable to give a straight answer, he stuttered as he tried to come up with something. “I— I just— No, I—I don’t think so?”

Michael didn’t know why, but even though that was the answer he thought he wanted to hear, it didn’t make him feel any better.

Ryan was going to reply to that statement, but Gavin stopped him before he could say anything else and do any more damage. “I—I mean, why does it even matter if I like anyone? You’re the one that’s looking like a male model, Ryan!”

Ryan flinched at that statement, and it earned quite a few laughs from the rest of the table. “Wh—why would you say that?” he asked nervously.

Gavin smirked, realizing he had the upper hand now. “Look at you, Ryan! I mean, you’re gorgeous. Of course you would be comparable to a male model. You could have anyone you want, couldn’t you?”

A part of Ryan felt relieved that Gavin only said ‘comparable’, but the rest was still very upset with the current conversation. “No I couldn’t! Why are we even talking about this?”

“Because you brought it up!” Gavin pointed out.

“Okay, how about, we just, not talk about this. Anymore.” Lindsay intervened before it got any worse. “Just, like, shut up. Both of you. Let’s discuss something else.”

As if on cue, Jeremy called out to Ryan and Gavin, waving around a dessert menu. “Hey, you guys should get something! Like a cake! It wouldn’t be a real celebration without a cake!” he singsonged with a wink.

Ryan and Gavin exchanged a look before looking at Jeremy with intense scrutiny. “Give us that menu,” Ryan ordered.

With a laugh, Jeremy happily handed it over, and in no time, Ryan and Gavin were happily discussing which cakes they wanted to get.

Lindsay sighed, feeling somewhat relieved that they weren’t discussing their love lives anymore. She watched in content as they bickered over which cake would be best to get while Michael pointed out that they could each get their own cake. At least it wasn’t a conversation that could jeopardize anything.

Still, she knew that she had to make sure that Ryan knew the limits to his “help” to prevent this from happening again.

 

 

In the end, Ryan and Gavin picked two separate cakes, but they ended up sharing them anyway. When they arrived, the whole table sang some shitty rendition of “Happy Birthday”, but instead of “happy birthday”, it was “happy getting into the play celebration”.

After they finished, the whole group said some final goodbyes before finally splitting up. Ryan and Jack drove, so they stayed to make sure everyone else got picked up first. Kdin, Jeremy, Matt, and Trevor all left with their parents within a half hour, and Geoff came to get Michael, Gavin, and Lindsay.

The ride home was short, and before Michael knew it, he was back home. Alone.

It was about eight o’clock, so he wasn’t all that surprised that his parents weren’t home yet. He’d grown accustomed to it over the years. Some nights he’d even go to sleep without seeing his parents.

Without anyone to greet, Michael went straight upstairs to his room. He resolved to work on his homework for a while, at least to kill time until his parents got home. However, unsurprisingly, he ended up falling asleep halfway through.

He woke up later, to the sound of his ringtone. He jumped in his seat, surprised at the sudden noise, and even more surprised to see that he was still sitting at his desk. By the time he had become fully aware of where he was and what was going on, his phone had stopped ringing, but he checked it anyway.

_look outside_

It was from Gavin, so Michael knew it was better to just do what he asked and not question it. He sighed, pocketing his phone and moving towards the window facing his front lawn. As he looked out, he expected something strange in the sky or something left for him on the driveway.

He didn’t expect Gavin to be standing in front of his house, but there he was.

Shocked, Michael checked the time on his phone. He wondered how late it was, and why the _fuck_ Gavin was outside.

It was ten o’clock.

Michael was about to call Gavin and tell him to _go the fuck home and go to bed what the fuck_ , but Gavin had already sent him a text.

_how can i get inside?_

Michael wanted to _scream_.

Was Gavin just being stupid? How could he get inside at this time? Well, it wasn’t _that_ late, but his parents would _definitely_ hear him come in, and then they would want to know what he was doing there, and it just wouldn’t be good for either of them.

Michael wondered if there was a ladder Gavin could get to. Or a rope. He was going to check, but Gavin had texted him again.

_theres no car in the driveway… are ur parents home?_

Michael sighed. Of course his parents weren’t home yet. He wanted to be upset, but he thought that he should probably be glad in this case. He texted back:

_u can just come in through the front door. ill let u in._

Within a few seconds, Michael bounded down the stairs and opened the door for Gavin. Wordlessly, Michael stepped aside, allowing Gavin to enter. Gavin nodded a thank you and stepped inside, looking around curiously.

“Let’s go upstairs.”

Michael led Gavin up the stairs and up to his room. He opened the door, allowing Gavin to enter first. As soon as Gavin went inside, Michael followed after and shut the door behind them.

Just as he did downstairs, Gavin looked around Michael’s room curiously. “So, this is your room…”

“Yeah,” Michael shrugged, plopping himself down on his bed. He looked around at the simple, messy room that he inhabited and realized that he probably shouldn’t have let Gavin upstairs. “Nothing special.”

“Well, it is kind of special!” Gavin said, smiling. He let himself fall backwards onto Michael’s bed, stretching his limbs. “I’ve never been in here before.”

Michael scooted backwards and crossed his legs. He stared at Gavin as he lay on his bed, wondering why he suddenly decided to visit. Before he got a chance to ask, Gavin sat up and turned to face Michael, asking, “So why aren’t your parents home?”

Michael’s eyes narrowed as he stared down at his lap. He _really_ didn’t want to be having this conversation. “I don’t know,” was all he said.

“Oh,” Gavin said, trying to think of possible explanations for Michael’s parents’ absence. “Do they work a little farther away or something? Or are they working late?”

Michael sighed, turning to the window. He was silent for a moment before he answered. “I guess.”

Gavin could tell that Michael probably didn’t want to keep talking about it, so he dropped the issue. He waited for Michael to bring something else up, to change the topic.

He didn’t say anything for a minute or so. Gavin had picked a different direction to look in, but peered back at Michael, looking for a change in posture or anything. Suddenly, Michael asked, “Well, why are _you_ here, Gavin?”

Gavin smiled, laughing quietly. “Um, I don’t really know.” The laughter grew louder, and Michael turned to give Gavin a quizzical look. He stopped, and met Michael’s gaze. “I just thought, I wanted to see you.”

Michael backed up on his bed, sighed, and leaned back against the headboard of the bed. “Idiot, you saw me all day.”

Another laugh. “I guess, but, even though I said I wanted more people to come along, the more time we spent with more people, I realized that I really just wanted it to be us.” Gavin pulled his knees up and hugged them to his chest. “Besides, you and Lindsay were my greatest support. And you especially, since you were the first person I told.”

Gavin laughed again, lightening up the tense atmosphere. He let go of his knees and moved next to Michael on the bed, also leaning back against the headboard. “So then I thought that I just wanted to see you. And I came to see you.”

Michael was silent. He was honestly shocked that Gavin felt that way, and he had no idea what to say. “You… you’re such a reckless person, acting on impulse like that,” he eventually said.

“Maybe,” Gavin said, grinning. “But I got to see you, anyway.”

“You would have seen me tomorrow at school.”

“But not alone.”

Michael didn’t know how to respond to that.

Suddenly, Gavin slumped down until he was laying on the bed. “By the way, I’m going to sleep here. No if’s, and’s, or but’s about it.”

Michael groaned, holding his head in his hands. “What the fuck are you talking about? You can’t just _decide_ to sleep here, in my house, in my bed!”

“Too late.”

Michael sighed, slumping back against the headboard. “Well, I guess I’ll go fuck myself, then,” he muttered.

Both of them were silent for a few minutes, and when Gavin didn’t say anything, Michael thought Gavin had already fallen asleep. He was about to get up to brush his teeth and change into some pajamas, but Gavin said something that stopped him.

“Hey, Michael,” Gavin whispered. “Could you make a promise with me?”

Michael sighed yet again. “What is it?”

“If you’re ever lonely, I’ll promise to just be beside you. To just be with you.” Gavin paused. “And you do the same for me. Just like tonight.”

“Yeah, sure,” Michael agreed, starting to get up.

Gavin pulled on Michael’s shirt, preventing him from standing. “No, you have to really promise.”

Michael lay down next to Gavin and faced him, realizing Gavin wasn’t going to get up or let him get up. “How.”

Gavin had his eyes closed, but held up his left hand with his pinky out. _What a child_ , Michael thought, but he still wrapped his own pinky around Gavin’s. “Pinky swear,” he said, thinking it was absolutely ridiculous.

“Then I’ll never be lonely again,” Gavin whispered, half asleep.

Michael agreed. “Never again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rimmy tim strikes again


	13. Promise to Believe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yall its 4:15 AM and i didnt even bother to spellcheck or anythin rip me but i wanted to get this out bc im mcfreakin dyin

The next morning, Lindsay left early to find Ryan before the school day began. She had to find him, get him alone, reexplain everything, and make sure he not only understood, but that he was going to do anything he could to help their friends.

She felt kind of stupid, really, for expecting so much of him without explaining anything. Sure, maybe he could see they had a connection, but she should have known that he wouldn’t understand the severity of the situation. This time, she was going to fully explain everything so Ryan wouldn’t make a mistake again.

After she got to the high school, Lindsay found Ryan standing alone, just where she’d told him to meet her. She had to make sure no one would be around, _especially_ not Gavin or Michael, so they met at a more isolated part of the building.

Ryan was leaning against the wall, reading, so he heard Lindsay’s footsteps from the far end of the hallway immediately. As she approached, he closed the book and turned to face her. “You, me, and an empty hallway at seven in the morning. If I’m right, nothing about this situation is very good.”

Lindsay laughed, crossing her arms. She shifted her weight onto her left food and kept her eyes to the ground for a moment before meeting his gaze. “Well, I guess it depends on what you see as bad.”

“Look,” Ryan started, shaking his head with a sigh. “If this is about yesterday, I’m sorry. I just thought it would be something funny to say, and if you disagree, then I really am sorry.”

Lindsay shook her head, waving it off. “No, no, no, it’s alright, don’t apologize.” She paused, biting her lip, wondering if she was making the right decision. “Listen, I just…” she trailed off, not knowing how to start to explain.

Ryan raised an eyebrow, tilting his head and leaning over slightly to meet her gaze, since she had shifted her own to the ground again. “Is something wrong?”

She looked up immediately, surprising him, and opened her mouth as if she were about to say something. Still, nothing came out, so she closed her mouth again. This left Ryan feeling more confused than before.

Suddenly, she took a sharp intake of breath and asked, “What do you know about Gavin’s past?”

Surprised by the sudden, seemingly off topic question, Ryan’s eyes widened. He tried to say something, maybe ask why she wanted to know, but all that came out was gibberish. He shook his head and shrugged. “I don’t know, he never really talked all that much about it. I know that he was adopted and that he was bullied as a kid, but all that kind of stopped after he met Dan. Now he’s pretty much the most popular guy in school.”

“Well, you’re pretty much right about most of that, except for the last part,” Lindsay admitted, turning her head to look at the wall.

“What are you talking about?” Ryan asked. “He’s got so many friends he can barely name all off them.”

“No, not that,” Lindsay laughs, shaking her head. She paused for quite a while before continuing. “It wasn’t Dan.”

“I’m sorry, I’m not following and I need you to explain—what are you talking about?” Lindsay knew that she just wasn’t making any sense to Ryan, and she was confusing the hell out of him. She finally looked up at him again, but she was surprised to see that he was more concerned than confused.

“Okay,” Lindsay gave in, placing her hands on her hips. “I’m going to tell you something. But _nobody_ knows this. I don’t even think Gavin or Michael know. As far as I know, it’s just me and their parents. And you, of course, in a couple of minutes.”

Ryan’s brow furrowed in skepticism and worry, but he nodded anyway. “Okay. Enlighten me.”

“God, this is messed up,” Lindsay shook her head again. She covered her face with her hands and leaned back, as if she wanted to scream. “I know this isn’t really my story to tell, and I feel so guilty about it, but you have to know if you’re going to help.”

“It—it’s okay, Lindsay,” Ryan reassured her. “If it’s something I need to know that will help, it’s okay, don’t worry.”

She dropped her hands and nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, okay.” She leaned back against the wall and slid down, sitting cross-legged on the floor. She patted the space next to her, asking Ryan to sit next to her. “You’re gonna want to sit down for this one.”

Ryan complied, sitting with his back against the wall and in the same position as Lindsay. “So, continue?”

“We were five,” Lindsay began, placing her hands in her lap. “Gavin moved here after his birth parents died. He came to my preschool, and the kids didn’t really like him.” She shook her head, remembering the way Gavin was mistreated. “They bullied him pretty hard, especially for five year olds. I always watched, you know? I saw how they made fun of him for being different, and I always felt bad about it.”

She stopped, and looked at Ryan, who was listening intently. She laughed bitterly. “I tried to help. Tried to talk to him. But he didn’t talk much, so we didn’t connect that well. But I could tell he was hurting, even if he didn’t want to talk to me about it.”

“Sounds pretty cruel for a couple of kids. Damn.” Ryan frowned, wondering how they could have gotten away with all of that.

“Yeah,” Lindsay agreed, playing with the hem of her shirt. “Anyway, it was some time later, and Michael came to our preschool.”

Ryan’s eyes widened. “No way. You’re kidding. Or you’ve got the wrong kid.”

Lindsay laughed, expecting that response. “No, this is serious.” She looked up at Ryan and smiled. “I talked to him first, showed him around, the usual. And then he noticed that Gavin was being teased, and he asked me, ‘Lindsay, does that always happen?’” She smiled, remembering her friend’s selfless bravery. “I don’t remember the details, but the next thing I knew, Michael was standing up to the kids that tormented Gavin for months.”

“If you’re serious, then I think it’s kind of ironic that the next time they meet, Gavin saves Michael,” Ryan pointed out. “But then again, Michael seems pretty fierce. I’m not all that surprised that he would do something like that.”

“You’re right, he does,” Lindsay laughed, nodding. “So, Michael saves Gavin from his bullies. He gets them to leave him alone, and they become best friends. Totally inseparable. I can’t even believe they let me into their friendship.”

She felt her eyes become heavy with tears as she remembered all of the things they did together as kids. “You know, they even made a promise. Gavin made Michael promise that he would never leave, and Michael was so motivated to keep it, just so that Gavin wouldn’t be lonely anymore.”

“So… it looks like he couldn’t keep that promise, seeing as Michael just suddenly moved here earlier this year,” Ryan concluded, connecting the dots.

Lindsay could feel the first few tears falling. “Yeah.” She shook her head and wiped her eyes with her sleeve before continuing. “We were so happy. We spent almost every day together.” She paused. “And then, one day, Gavin came up to me and told me that Michael broke his promise.”

“Because he was moving?” Ryan asked.

“Yeah, I think his dad got relocated or something because of his job, so they had to leave,” Lindsay answered. “And Gavin was so heartbroken.”

She stopped again as more tears fell from her eyes. Ryan rummaged through his bag, pulled out a pack of tissues, and offered her some. She nodded in thanks, taking them. “They really loved each other, you know. Platonically, of course. They were closer than the closest siblings.”

She wiped her tears away and blew her nose into the tissues she’d been given. “And you know what Michael did? He came in with rings made from flowers and told Gavin to marry him.”

As much as he wanted to keep it in, Ryan laughed. “Why?”

Lindsay laughed, too. “I don’t remember exactly what he said. But he said it was like a promise. A new, stronger one. They’d get married so they’d never forget each other, and Michael said he’d come back.”

“Which he did,” Ryan pointed out.

“He did,” Lindsay started, her breathing shaky, “but… it doesn’t look like either of them remember.”

Ryan wanted to say something, but he had no idea what it should be.

“I grew up with Gavin,” Lindsay said, shaking her head. “I saw it, you know. As soon as he met Dan, and then Ray, and then everyone else in his life. I could tell he was forgetting about Michael.” She paused, bringing her knees to her chest. “And I asked him one night. We were twelve. I asked him about Michael.”

Ryan nodded, silently asking her to go on.

“He said he never knew a Michael.”

“Oh…?” Ryan asked, again not knowing how to respond to the last sentence.

“I mean, I don’t know, I don’t totally blame him,” Lindsay said, trying to justify Gavin’s lost memories. “I know he was just trying to protect himself. He thought that if he didn’t think about it, he wouldn’t feel as lonely,” Lindsay explained. She looked away from Ryan, staring down the hallway, not wanting to face him. Even though she knew all of this, she still blamed herself for letting Gavin forget it all.

Ryan could tell she was in some kind of internal conflict, so he changed the subject. “Then why doesn’t Michael remember?” he asked quietly.

Lindsay shrugged, facing front again. “I don’t really know. I asked his parents, but they didn’t know either. I mean, when we were kids, Michael was always at Gavin’s house, sometimes past dinner time.” Lindsay closed her eyes, crossing her arms over her knees burying her face in her arms. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they were just too busy to notice that their son was falling apart.”

She lifted her head and wiped away her tears again. “I know that he talked to Gavin’s dad about his past once, but it was pretty brief.” She bit her lip, not wanting to speak her next few words, as if that would keep them from being true. “He said he was being bullied. It seemed pretty bad.”

Ryan sighed, crossing his arms, overwhelmed by everything he was just told and entrusted with. “This all sounds… really bad. And kind of ironic.” He paused, trying to make sense of it all, but came up with nothing. “What a turn of events.”

“Yeah, it really is,” Lindsay agreed. She stopped, and turned her head to look at Ryan. “Now, I know that I didn’t really explain this all that well, but at least you know.”

She straightened her legs before crossing them again and fully turning her body to face Ryan. “The only way that this can be set right is to get them to remember each other. I get that I shouldn’t really be meddling in this, but I want them to be happy.”

She stopped, trying to figure out how to summarize the goal in the best way. “I want them to remember their past, and I want them to know that they’re finally together again. That they kept their promise.”

“Of course,” Ryan agreed. “It sounds like they were both pretty hurt when Michael left.” He paused, trying to think of a way to go about getting them to remember, but came up with nothing in the moment. “I don’t know if we can guarantee that this will work,” Ryan admitted. “But if it does, and we somehow get them to remember, at least they’ll finally get some real closure.”

Lindsay nodded. “Yeah, they really will,” she said with a smile, knowing how good this would be for the two of them. She shook herself out of her thoughts and asked, “So you’re on board, right?”

Ryan laughed incredulously. “After all that? How could I possibly _not_ be invested in this?”

“Okay, okay, fair enough.” Lindsay grinned, excited to see this plan finally going into action. “All I need is, like I said before, a couple of subtle hints and all that. Just to see if you can jog his memory without doing it for him, okay?”

“Yeah, no problem,” Ryan reassured, letting her know that he was now well aware of all the boundaries that he _should not_ cross. “You can count on me. Don’t worry.”

Lindsay smiled. She then shifted her body so that she sat on her knees before pushing herself up to stand. She stretched and turned to Ryan, bending down and offering him a hand to help him to his feet. He took her hand with a smile and let her help him up.

“Glad to have you on my side, Ryan,” Lindsay said, patting him on the shoulder. She pulled out her phone and checked the time. “Now, c’mon, at this point they’re definitely looking for their missing friends, and we should get going before anybody finds us.”

She began to head down the hallway, and Ryan laughed, following her. “Of course, we wouldn’t want anyone ruining our plans, now wouldn’t we?”

Lindsay smiled and shook her head. “Nope! Not when we’re onto something so good.”

 

The first time Ryan really approached Gavin was during their first play rehearsal. Ryan, having a more important role in the play, was a bit busier than Gavin, so he didn’t get that many chances to speak with him. He found time to come around during breaks or during scenes that neither of them had to be in, even though the opportunities didn’t come around all that often.

He had gotten a couple of moments alone with Gavin just to talk and have some banter, just like always. Ryan didn’t want to be _too_ obvious about his plans, so he had to build up some usual conversation to cover his true intentions. He talked about a few useless things—classes, friends, etc. Gavin was acting as usual, so Ryan was feeling pretty confident about confronting him.

When they finally got a long break, Ryan figured this would be the best time to approach Gavin.

He found him in the back, just sitting around and drinking from a water bottle. Ryan walked up to Gavin and sat in the chair next to him, and Gavin made a noise of acknowledgement. He capped the bottle and set it down, turning to Ryan. “Hey, Ryan! What’s up?”

“Meh, nothing, actually,” Ryan shrugged. “What about you? How’s the acting life treating you?”

“Well, it’s not that great having to act as a Nazi,” Gavin scoffed, shaking his head, “but it’s pretty good! I haven’t had this much fun in a while.” He smiled, looking off to the side. “I’m really glad that Michael encouraged me to try out.”

Ryan nodded, glad to hear Gavin bring up Michael. “Yeah? Do you think you’d wanna continue acting in the future?”

“Oh, god, I don’t know, Ryan,” Gavin shrugged, taking another sip of water. “This is fun, it’s great, really, but I don’t know if I’d want to do this for money.” Gavin paused. He looked away for a moment and then looked back at Ryan. “Would you?”

“Actually, I might,” Ryan admitted, leaning back in his chair.

Shocked, Gavin straightened up and turned to completely face Ryan. “You must be joking!”

Ryan chuckled, crossing his arms. “Well, it’s not the only thing that I’m interested in, but I really am serious.”

Gavin stared at him in disbelief for a moment before shaking his head. “Ryan, I hope you know that you surprise me with something new every single day.”

Ryan laughed off that comment and moved to a different topic. “So if not theater, what else is there?”

“What do you mean, Ryan?” Gavin asked, confused.

Ryan shrugged, sitting up straight. “You ever think about your future? It’s just that you’re a sophomore now, and…” he trailed off, not really knowing how to come up with a reason for asking without mentioning Michael.

Gavin hummed, looking off in a different direction as he thought. “God, I don’t know, Ryan.” He continued to think, weighing all the possibilities, but came up with nothing. “I don’t know.”

“Well, that’s fair,” Ryan said, realizing that his question was probably too broad. “I don’t really know either. I’ve got a general idea, I guess.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Get a job, probably get married, probably have kids…” he trailed off, thought for a moment, and continued. “And keep you guys around, if I can.”

Gavin grinned, patting Ryan on the back. “Aw, Ryan!” He laughed and shifted so that he sat with one leg crossed under the other. “Don’t worry, Ryan, you’ll never get rid of me.”

Ryan scoffed. “Yeah, I never thought I would.” He paused and gave Gavin a smile. “So, what about you? What are you hoping your future friends and family will look like?”

“Mine?” Gavin sighed, leaning back in his chair. He leaned his elbow on the arm rest, placing his hand at his mouth as he thought. “I guess I’m just like you, Ryan. I want to keep all my friends!” He grinned again at Ryan and then uncrossed his leg to cross the other one underneath it. “Lindsay would probably kill me if I ever tried to cut her out of my life. And I couldn’t even imagine getting rid of Dan. And Michael…” he trailed off, gaze shifting to the floor. A smile broke out onto his face and he laughed lightly.

“And Michael…?” Ryan asked, both confused and hopeful.

Gavin shook himself out of his thoughts, coming back to reality. “What?” He shifted again so that both of his legs were crossed again. “Oh, it’s nothing,” he said, realizing what had just happened. “I just remembered something funny that I told Michael once.”

“What was it?” Ryan pushed, and he hoped it wasn’t _too_ pushy, just enough to get some information out of Gavin.

Gavin laughed again. “It was dumb. We were studying biology, and I drew a family, and I said it was us.” He chuckled, thinking about how stupid it was. “And on the way home I made Michael promise that we’d always be together.” He quieted down by the end of the sentence, as if realizing what he’d done was somehow embarrassing or something.

“Really?” Ryan was truly intrigued, so he pressed further. He thought that maybe Gavin had already realized it on his own.

“Yeah,” Gavin sighed. “It was dumb. And creepy, probably. I’d only known him a month, if even that.”

“I don’t think so,” Ryan shrugged. He discreetly checked the time to make sure they still had a while to continue their conversation without being interrupted. Once he was sure they had at least another few minutes, he cleared his throat and put his phone away. “Actually, it’s kind of sweet.”

Gavin shot a look of disbelief at Ryan and scoffed. “I don’t know what it is. It’s like love at first sight, but for friends.” Gavin shook his head, not knowing how to phrase how he felt. He looked away for a moment before meeting Ryan’s gaze again. “Don’t you ever look at someone and feel this nagging feeling, like you have to have them in your life? Because that’s what I feel like.”

Ryan smirked, knowing that Gavin was in so deep and didn’t even realize it. “Maybe that’s just _regular_ love at first sight.”

Gavin blushed and he lightly hit Ryan’s shoulder in mock anger. “Shut up!”

“You don’t know!” Ryan laughed. “Maybe you were right, maybe that family _is_ you and Michael, and you’ll be married some day!”

Gavin’s face turned a deeper shade of pink, and he covered his face with one hand, trying to hide it. He used the other to swat at Ryan helplessly, trying to get him to stop talking. “Shut _up_ , Ryan! Why do you have to make this embarrassing!”

“I’m just _saying_ , love is unpredictable,” Ryan defended himself, chuckling. “And you two look great together! The perfect couple!”

At that point, practice was called back on, and Gavin used that as his excuse to get away. He faced away from Ryan, keeping his face covered, and practically ran away, mumbling to himself about how Ryan didn’t know when to shut up. Ryan stayed right where he sat and laughed, thinking that this conversation was overall a success.

 

Since Gavin was at play practice, Michael didn’t really have anywhere to go.

He decided to tag along with Lindsay and hang out at the video editing club. He stayed in the back and promised not to do anything while the club was working, so they let him stick around. Michael watched as they tested the equipment, wrote up the script for tomorrow’s news, and edited a few videos that were going to be played on the morning announcements over the next week.

Eventually, their hour of time ran out, and Lindsay and Michael were the only ones left in the club room. The others had moved out, so Michael sat next to Lindsay as she worked on editing. He watched her quietly, not wanting to interrupt her focus.

After a minute or two of silence, however, Lindsay broke it for him. “So, what are you doing here? Don’t you have your own club?”

Michael shrugged. “Well, yeah.” He unlocked his phone and absentmindedly swiped between screens, pretending to look like the question didn’t bother him at all. “Yearbook’s okay, but it’s kind of lonely I guess.”

“Alright, alright.” She glanced at him and saw right through his façade. “You big baby,” Lindsay snickered, earning a ‘fuck you’ from Michael. “You can stay with me.”

Michael rolled his eyes. “Even if you said no, I wouldn’t be moving.”

Lindsay smiled and went back to editing. Michael watched her, intrigued by how something that looked complex to him was definitely a piece of cake for her. He stared at the screen, completely confused, as the pointer darted back and forth. Lindsay was dragging video clips back and forth, adding things to them, removing things, writing text, and a bunch of other things that Michael could barely comprehend. Almost mesmerized, Michael whispered, “I just don’t get how you can do all this shit. And it makes _sense_ to you.”

Lindsay laughed, typing something in to layer over the video. “Yeah, it’s pretty sick, isn’t it?”

“I’d argue that it’s a little more than just sick,” Michael said, leaning in. He rolled the chair in further to get closer to the screen. “None of this makes any fucking sense to me.”

Lindsay laughed a little louder this time, turning to face Michael with a grin. “Yeah? Doesn’t surprise me.”

Michael huffed, playfully hitting Lindsay on the shoulder. “Shut up,” he said, shaking his head with a smile.

Lindsay nodded, giving an absent minded “yeah, yeah,” in response before going back to editing. Michael watched intently for a moment before asking, “What made you want to do this?”

“Video editing?” Lindsay hummed, thinking on the question as she added a few more little details to the video. “It’s fun, so there’s that,” she commented, earning a scoff from Michael. She giggled and continued to think. “I guess it started with Gavin and Dan.”

“Oh, yeah?” Michael perked up, interested in this sudden backstory.

“Yeah,” Lindsay nodded, remembering the fun they used to have as kids. “They started out filming stuff in slow motion, which was kind of stupid.”

“Sounds like typical Gavin,” Michael said, shaking his head.

Lindsay grinned, agreeing with him. “Well, they were the stars of those videos, and they called me in for help with editing and filming sometimes.” She paused as she was going through the video she was currently editing, finding a mistake. She apologized for the sudden stop as she quickly fixed the error. “It was a lot of fun back then, and I guess it just stuck. I’ve been into it ever since.”

“That’s kind of nice,” Michael said, not really knowing what else to say. “And you’re good at it, too,” he added.

“Thanks,” Lindsay smiled, accepting the compliment. She went back to editing for a moment, sighing in relief as she finally set the video to render. “Anyway, what about you? Don’t you have anything you’re super passionate about?”

Michael shook his head. “Oh, god, no, not me.” He frowned, thinking maybe there _might_ be something, but came up empty. “Nothing like you with your videos or Gavin with his theater.”

Lindsay bit her lip when Michael mentioned Gavin, wondering if she should let the conversation go in that direction. She ended up deciding against it, thinking that they should probably discuss that somewhere more private.

Ultimately, Lindsay sighed, letting go of the mouse. She pushed lightly on the desk, rolling away from the monitor in her chair. “So, nothing, huh?” Lindsay said, glancing at the video progress. She paused, thinking about where to take the conversation. “And I guess that means you have no idea what you want to do with your life, huh?”

Michael scoffed, crossing his arms. “Nope.” He looked away for a moment, a smile forming on his face. “Actually, I was talking to Gavin about that recently. That it’s kind of fucked up that we expect kids to choose what they wanna do for the rest of their lives at eighteen years old.”

“Ugh, honestly,” Lindsay agreed, slightly hung up on the fact that Michael brought up Gavin yet again. She was onto something, but had to confirm her suspicions. “So what are you planning to do after this?” Lindsay asked, wary of Michael’s answer.

Michael was slightly surprised by the sudden question. “Oh, uh, well I was just gonna drop by the auditorium and wait ‘til Gavin was ready to go.”

Lindsay nodded, glad to hear that. “Well, you _could_ do that, but you’d be stuck there for a little while. I don’t think play practice ends until four or maybe five?” she said, half asking the second half of it. “So you might need a back-up plan.”

“Really? Damn.” Michael shook his head, upset by the change of plans. “I should really ask him what his schedule’s like to avoid stuff like this.” He unlocked his phone and wrote a note down so as not to forget it.

Lindsay watched him, wanting to speak her next few words, but worried about the outcome. When Michael looked back up at her, ready to speak, she blurted it all out anyway. “Okay, Michael, face it, you’re lost without him.”

Michael’s eyes widened and his face reddened, half in shame and half in embarrassment. “I am— I do not— Gavin’s not—” He paused, and then fully stopped and sighed, realizing there was no way he was going to get out of this. “Okay, sure. I am.” He stared at the floor for a while, his face burning red. He kept facing the floor, but glanced up at Lindsay momentarily. “So what?” he asked, almost angry.

Lindsay shrugged, not necessarily seeing anything wrong with that. “Nothing’s wrong.” She thought for a moment, carefully picking her next words. “I just want to know why,” is what she settled for.

Michael stared at the ground for another moment before sighing and slumping back in the seat. “God, I don’t know,” he admitted, running a hand through his hair. “I wish I could explain it.” He straightened up and inhaled sharply, thinking he was onto something, but he shook his head and sighed.

It took him a moment to get his thoughts together, but he got there eventually. “It’s like, we met, and something clicked. Like when you’re trying to solve a problem and you finally get the answer, or when you’re solving a puzzle and the last piece falls into place.”

A moment of silence went by before he whispered, “It was like we were meant to find each other.”

Lindsay smiled, glad to hear his answer. “Like a soulmate?”

Just as he had started to calm down, his face went red again. “No! God, no!” He was completely flustered, trying to make excuses and explain how what he felt and what a soulmate was were completely different.

Lindsay laughed at the sudden violent reaction and reached out a hand to touch his shoulder. “It’s okay, I get it, alright?” Michael’s shoulders slumped, and he calmed down. Lindsay smiled, and she turned back to the computer. The video had finished rendering. “Let me just take care of this real quick and we’ll go, okay?”

Michael tried to answer, but Lindsay’s comment had practically caused him to short circuit, so all he came up with was a jumbled mess sounding like “mhphm.”

Lindsay quickly uploaded the video to folder shared between the club members and shut down the program and the computer. She and Michael then packed up their things and left the room right after Lindsay shut off the light and locked the door.

On their way out, they decided to visit the drama club and see if they could catch a glimpse of Gavin on stage. As they arrived at the auditorium and moved to the back, they happened to overhear a couple of gossiping girls who seemed to be in the drama club.

“Did you _see_ Gavin’s face?” one of them said, laughing. “It was so red, and he was trying so hard to cover it!”

That certainly grabbed their attention. Michael and Lindsay shared a look of shock as they nodded, focusing less on the stage and more on their gossip.

“I know!” agreed another. “What do you think they were talking about?”

Another shrugged. “No idea, but it seemed pretty suspicious. Ryan looked like he was all about it.”

Michael’s eyes widened and he gave Lindsay another look. Lindsay hoped that this was just a misunderstanding, and she returned a look to try and convey her thoughts. It didn’t help to calm Michael down at all.

“They must be dating,” the first one concluded. “It’s the only logical explanation!” All of them broke out into laughter, speculating on the idea of Ryan and Gavin together.

Lindsay grabbed Michael’s hand and dragged him out of there, knowing that any more time spent in there would be disastrous. Michael was silent for most of it, too confused and worried to say anything.

“What the hell is that about?” Lindsay said, realizing that she would mostly be talking to herself. “That’s gotta be a misunderstanding!” she said, hoping to get through to Michael.

Michael still didn’t respond, and Lindsay bit her lip, wondering how she could possibly get the point across. “Ryan would never go for Gavin. This can’t be real. They’ve got to be making it up.”

Still no response. She felt bad for Michael, but she had to do something to get his head out of his thoughts. He just wasn’t cooperating with her.

Lindsay sighed. It was going to be a long walk home.

 

The walk home went as Lindsay had expected. Michael didn’t say much for a while, but he started responding again once Lindsay had moved on to different topics. They made small talk, but it was pretty bland and boring. But Lindsay would take that over leaving Michael to his own self destructive thoughts.

They decided to hang out in Gavin’s room and wait for him to get back, maybe to clear up this whole thing and get to the truth. They sat together on the floor, each doing their own thing, waiting patiently for Gavin.

Lindsay had moved on to some homework, but she looked up occasionally to make sure Michael was doing okay. The third time she looked up and saw that he was again staring into space, she stepped in.

She sighed, pulling herself up into a sitting position and scooting over to sit next to Michael. “Okay, Michael. Why are you so hung up on this?”

The sudden question shook him out of his thoughts. He looked at her, then away, and back at her. “I don’t know,” he breathed out, exasperated. “I just am.” He shook his head, devolving into a frustrated yell. He leaned over, putting his face in his hands. “God, this is so fucking stupid.”

“It’s not,” Lindsay reassured him. “I’m also pretty shocked and worried.”

“But not as much as me,” Michael said through gritted teeth.

Lindsay opened her mouth to refute that statement, but she realized that he was right. She closed her mouth and frowned worriedly. “…No,” she whispered. “Not as much as you.”

Michael pulled his knees in to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. He looked away from Lindsay, nodding his head at the words she repeated. Suddenly, he sighed and met her eyes again. “You wanna know something?”

Lindsay was taken aback by the sudden question, but she agreed anyway. “Yeah, of course, if it’ll make you feel better.”

Michael shook his head in disbelief with himself as he laughed. “I can’t believe I’m about to tell you this.” He let go of his knees and crossed his legs instead. “When I was younger, kids were always bullying me for no goddamn reason. They made me feel like absolute shit, and I had no one to turn to. It was so fucking hard to talk to anyone, let alone trust them.”

Michael paused, surprised to see the hurt look on Lindsay’s face. He shook himself out of his thoughts and continued. “Anyway, it’s always been hard for me to get close to people. And then I met Gavin, and I thought that it was over. I thought I could trust him with anything, and then this suddenly happens?”

He scoffed, shaking his head again, eager to rush through the story and be done with it. “It’s so fucking stupid that I’m so hung up about this, but I fucking am. I just thought that if there was anything important that he was going through, I would know. But I’m hearing about this through some shitty gossip.”

There was a long silence between them for a while before Lindsay finally sighed, placing a hand on top of Michael’s to calm him down. “First of all,” she began, squeezing his hand, “I’m so sorry about your childhood. You didn’t deserve that.”

Michael glanced at her, frowned, and looked away again. “Thanks. Even though it won’t change anything. But thanks.”

Lindsay gave him a small smile before continuing. “Second, it’s good that you trust him. And you should continue to trust him. And believe in him.”

Michael didn’t reply, so Lindsay went on. “Michael, relationships are a two-way street. Gavin trusts you so much that you were the first person he even _told_ about his interest in the drama club.” She paused, waiting for a response. When none was given, she continued. “That means that you need to trust him with this. If something is going on, he’ll tell you. If nothing’s going on, he’ll tell you. But you need to believe in him.”

Michael removed his hand from Lindsay’s grip, disappointing her for a moment before he placed his hand on top of hers and squeezed instead. Lindsay tried to meet his gaze, smiling, but he looked away. “You’re right. I know you’re right.” He frowned, finally looking her in the eye. “But it’s hard.”

“Of course it is,” Lindsay understood, nodding. “You’ve had a hard time believing in others because they’ve all let you down, but Gavin won’t do that. It’ll be hard to realize that, but you need to. For your sake.”

Michael took his hand back and crossed his arms. “Yeah,” he breathed, nodding slowly. “I’m just gonna have to believe in him.”

Lindsay grinned, laughing. “I promise that he will never let you down. I’ll make sure of it.”

Michael looked away for a moment and then back at Lindsay, a small smile on his face. “I’ll hold you to that, you know.”

Lindsay was about to respond, but the door suddenly flew open as Gavin ran inside, slamming it shut behind him. He threw his bag to the floor and practically dropped down to Michael and Lindsay’s level. He took out his phone, as if looking for something frantically.

Michael was going to ask what the _hell_ his problem was, but Gavin interrupted him by shoving his phone in their faces. “Have you seen this!?” he exclaimed, getting even closer.

Michael snatched the phone out of Gavin’s hand and brought it closer so that he and Lindsay could read. It was a list of Gavin’s recent text messages, many of them asking about his relationship with Ryan.

“It’s ridiculous!” Gavin cried, exasperated as he threw himself onto his bed. “They have no idea what they’re talking about!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Lindsay interjected, pulling herself up to her feet. She held out Gavin’s phone to him. “Can you _please_ explain what this is about?”

Gavin huffed, taking the phone back. “Me and Ryan were just talking during a break. He asked me all sorts of weird questions about my future, and one of them was just really embarrassing and really sudden.”

Gavin groaned and buried his face in his pillow, remembering the question and realizing that the subject of it was currently sitting on the floor of his bedroom.  He lifted his head to say, “And now people are making a big deal out of nothing!” before plopping his head back down into the pillow.

Lindsay sat at the foot of Gavin’s bed and crossed her legs. “So, you’re _not_ secretly dating Ryan behind our backs?”

“Of course not!” Gavin flipped over, hugging the pillow to his chest. “Even if I was, you both know that you’re the first people I’d tell! I wouldn’t keep this a secret.”

“That’s what I thought.” Lindsay smiled, glancing at Michael as if to tell him _“I told you so.”_

Michael got the message and smiled back, happy to know that Gavin hadn’t been keeping anything from them after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the rumor come out: does gavin is gay?


	14. Fixing a Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why the hell am i still writing this
> 
> also this was supposed to be one chapter and then i was writing and it was suddenly 12 pgs in ms word so i was like ok! ill just die then! now its 2 chapters
> 
> chapter titles are Killing my Soul

The following Saturday, the trio met at Gavin’s house once again.

Since Gavin had let the rumor about him and Ryan get so big, Lindsay claimed that they needed a real bonding session. Something to restore the trust that Gavin had so rudely destroyed.

Gavin had originally protested, saying that “destroyed” was a bit of a strong word. In the end, though, he really had no reason to object to the idea. Michael said the same since it wasn’t like he was busy or anything.

And, so, with unanimous agreement, the decision was made to spend their Saturday together. It was a pretty solid plan. Perfect for fixing a broken relationship, Lindsay had decided.

Since Michael lived practically next door to Gavin, he showed up before Lindsay did. Michael walked up to Gavin’s door and had just barely began to knock when, as if on cue, Gavin opened the door. “Michael!” he exclaimed excitedly, throwing the door wide open. He gestured to the foyer with his left hand. “C’mon in!”

With a nod, Michael stepped inside, and Gavin closed the door behind him. Michael turned around and stood in the foyer, waiting for Gavin to follow him into the house. Instead, Gavin grabbed his sneakers and sat on the bottom stair step. “We’re just waiting on Lindsay,” Gavin said, putting his sneakers on. He stood up and put his right foot on the bottom step, pulling his laces tight and tying them up. “She said she’d be here in a couple minutes, so we can just wait here.” He then repeated the action with his left shoe. “Unless you wanna sit down?”

Michael shrugged. “Doesn’t matter to me.”

“Then we’ll just wait here,” Gavin concluded, taking a seat on the bottom step. Once he was seated, he looked up at Michael and smiled. “Are you excited?” he asked.

Surprised by the question, Michael shot back, “What do you mean?”

Gavin shrugged, resting his elbows on his knees and clapping his hands together. “I don’t know, just thought I’d ask.” He paused. “Just because I was feeling excited, so I thought you were too.”

Gavin’s response was a bit of a surprise to Michael at first. But then again, this _was_ Gavin. Realizing that, the response actually wasn’t all that surprising. He snickered, covering his mouth with his hand to keep himself from laughing too hard. “Of course you thought that.”

In mock offense, Gavin placed a hand on his chest and gasped over-dramatically. “Well, what’s that supposed to mean?”

Michael couldn’t keep himself from laughing at that one, and he had to turn away to stifle his laughing fit. “It’s just that,” he attempted to say between laughs, “we do stuff like this all the time, so it’s not like it’s that exciting or anything.”

“That’s not true!” Gavin pointed out, getting to his feet. He stood on the bottom step and leaned over the stair rail to say, “It’s always fun whenever we do stuff together. And we haven’t done anything like this in a while!”

Michael leaned back against the wall and shook his head, smiling. “Alright, okay, if you say so.” He didn’t really get Gavin’s mindset. To him, they’d pretty much exhausted everything you could do with friends, so this was nothing new. But he guessed that Gavin had a point, since it really had been awhile since he, Gavin, and Lindsay had done anything important together.

Gavin was going to answer, but before he could, there was another knock at the door. He gasped, jumping off the step and heading to the door. Once again, he threw the door open and greeted Lindsay with a grin. “Hi, Lindsay!”

“Hey, Gavin,” Lindsay smiled, stuffing her hands in her jacket pockets. She looked over at Michael and nodded a short greeting that Michael returned with a wave. “We ready to go?” she asked, looking between them.

“Yeah, just about ready to go,” Gavin said, turning around. He grabbed his jacket off of the railing, threw it over his shoulder, and rushed towards the archway to the that led to the rest of the house. Catching himself on the wall, he leaned through and called towards the back, “Geoff! Griffon! We’re going now!”

Muffled calls of agreement were heard, so Gavin nodded, taking that as the okay to leave. He turned around quickly, looking between Michael and Lindsay. “Well, let’s go!”

Lindsay had stepped inside and closed the door while Gavin was notifying his parents of his departure, so when Gavin turned to face her, she went to open the door. She went to turn the knob, but she stopped to ask if they had everything they needed. “Everyone’s good, right?”

“Guess so,” Michael shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets to quickly check. Feeling everything in its place, he nodded to confirm. “Yeah, I’m good.”

Both Lindsay and Michael then looked to Gavin accusatorily. He seemed to notice, and, taking offense, he looked at both of them incredulously. “What?!”

“Are you sure you have everything?” Lindsay and Michael asked in unison.

“Yes!” Gavin practically yelled, sliding his jacket on. He patted his jacket and jeans pockets twice to emphasize it. “Phone, wallet, keys, and money. I’ve got it!”

“Okay, just making sure!” Lindsay laughed, shaking her head as she opened the door.

“I swear, it’s like you just can’t trust me,” Gavin complained, walking out of the house. He leaned against the wall as he waited for Lindsay and Michael to exit the house.

“Sometimes it’s hard to trust someone that claims they brought their wallet when they didn’t,” Michael mentioned with a shrug, walking down the steps and onto the sidewalk.

“It was an honest mistake!” Gavin shot back, hopping down the steps.

“Yeah, yeah,” Michael said sarcastically with a smile, beginning to head for the park.

Gavin followed quickly, nudging Michael’s arm with his elbow. “I would’ve paid for you if you’d done the same! You know I would.”

Michael finally gave in, laughing as he nudged Gavin back. “Okay, fine, I know.” He turned his head to look at Gavin, but, out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Lindsay was still standing in front of the house. He stopped in place, turning around fully. “Lindsay,” he called out, immediately grabbing her attention, “you coming or what?”

Lindsay quickly caught up to them, apologizing. “Sorry, I was caught up with something,” she vaguely explained, pocketing her phone.

“You better be,” Gavin smiled. “This day is completely for us, like you said. Right?”

“Oh,” Lindsay said in a sly tone, “you have no idea.”

Michael and Gavin shared a worried look over that statement. Then again, this was Lindsay. And with her, you really couldn’t have an idea about anything at any time.

The walk to the park was relatively short. Being a small area, a lot of things were within walking distance—an hour’s worth of walking could get you pretty much anywhere. After around fifteen minutes, the trio found themselves standing by the entrance to the park.

They walked in together, not really having a specific destination in mind. Michael looked around as they aimlessly continued on. He noticed that there weren’t that many people, especially for the weekend. “Doesn’t look like a lot of people are around,” he said, vocalizing his observations as he turned back to Lindsay and Gavin.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Lindsay agreed, looking around as well. They noticed a couple of joggers, dog walkers, and families with kids, but it was still less than usual. She hummed, trying to come up with an explanation. “Well,” she suggested, “maybe it’s because it’s still early?”

“It’s also getting kind of cold,” Gavin mentioned, leaning in closer.

Michael rolled his eyes. “Sure, because sixty degrees is _real_ cold.”

“Oh, shut up!” Gavin laughed. “Lindsay, we’re supposed to be making up, but Michael’s ruining it,” he whined, resting his head on Lindsay’s shoulder for a moment.

“Well, I wouldn’t be if you knew what real cold was,” Michael teased, lacking any real malice in his words.

“Lindsay!”

The three of them stopped suddenly at the sound of Lindsay’s name being called. Lindsay nudged Gavin off of her shoulder and turned to face whoever was calling out to her. Michael and Gavin followed the action, curious to see who it was as well. To their surprise, Ryan was headed straight for them with his hand raised in a wave.

Once Ryan had caught up to his three underclassmen, Ryan immediately got to talking with Lindsay. “Oh, man, I can’t believe I actually found you here.” He stopped, expecting a response, but all he got was a confused look. Realizing her confusion, he prompted, “Well? Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Lindsay raised a brow at the question. “Uh, what? What are you talking about?”

“The video?” Ryan pushed further. “The one for the drama club that’s supposed to go up on Monday’s morning announcements?”

Lindsay gasped, cupping her face in her hands. “Oh my god! You’re right!”

Michael gave Gavin a look as if to ask _what the hell is going on?_   Gavin, having no answer, shrugged. _No clue_ , he mouthed.

“Well, yeah, I’m right,” Ryan agreed, crossing his arms. “I texted you yesterday after school to remind you to do it, and then you didn’t answer. Then, I texted you this morning to ask what you were doing concerning the video, and you said you were going to the park!”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry,” Lindsay apologized, shaking her head as she looked down at the ground. She turned around briefly to look at Gavin and Michael. Disappointed and frustrated, she sighed, turning back to Ryan. “I guess we should get to work on that now, then?”

“What!?” Gavin stepped in, upset over Lindsay having to leave. “You can’t leave! All three of us were all supposed to spend today together, weren’t we?”

“Gavin, I know, but I have to do this,” Lindsay said sadly. Gavin didn’t let up, so Lindsay tried to explain why it couldn’t wait. “Look, I’ve gotta get it done and sent to the rest of the team today. It can’t wait!” She paused, trying to think of anything else she could say to rationalize the situation. “Besides, it’ll only be a few hours max! I swear I’ll be back before the day is over.”

Gavin was still upset over the whole thing, but, realizing this really _was_ important for Lindsay, he gave in. “Fine,” he conceded. “But you better be back before the movie!”

Lindsay laughed. “You know I wouldn’t miss out on a cheesy rom-com with you guys!” She backed up, getting ready to leave with Ryan. Before they started walking away, she waved a goodbye to Michael and Gavin. “Just have fun without me, for a little while!” With that, the three of them turned to leave the park.

Gavin turned to Michael with a frown. “I guess today turned out to be a bust,” he sighed.

“Not really,” Michael shrugged. “Like she said, we’ll just be on our own for a little. What’s the problem with that?”

Afraid that he might have hurt Michael by implying he didn’t want to spend time with him, Gavin put his hands up as he began to apologize. “Oh, no, that’s not— I didn’t—” He waved his hands frantically, trying to explain himself. “It’s just that, without Lindsay—”

Michael laughed, putting a hand on Gavin’s shoulder to stop him. “Relax,” he said, smiling. “I get it. You thought this was going to be a day for all three of us, and it turned into the two of us plus Lindsay later.”

Gavin smiled, happy to hear that Michael understood. Suddenly, he was well aware that they were standing in the middle of the park without any clear goal in mind. He looked away for a moment to see if there was anything around for them to do. “Well,” he started, weighing the options, “we should at least do something while we’re here.”

“Sure, otherwise we would really be here for nothing,” Michael agreed.

Gavin paused, making up his mind on what he wanted to do. He could only hope that Michael would agree. “And there aren’t a lot of people here,” he reminded him.

“Nope,” Michael again confirmed.

“So, maybe,” he drawled out before quickly adding, “we could go on the swings?”

Michael’s shoulders slumped as he let out an exasperated _ugh_. “I knew it. I knew you’d ask if we could go on the fucking swings.”

“Is that a no?” Gavin asked, having hope for a yes.

After a moment of thinking it over, Michael rolled his eyes and sighed. “I guess it’s not.” He stopped again, realizing that he could just take it back. It could still be a no. But in the end, he decided there was really no harm in swinging when there weren’t that many kids around. “Fine, let’s go,” he muttered.

Gavin cheered in triumph, happy to have convinced his friend to use the swings. He grabbed Michael’s hand and hurried over to the playground so that they could get on the swings before any more kids showed up.

Once they got to the playground, Gavin immediately ran over and took a seat on one of the empty swings. Michael followed slowly, obviously less enthusiastic about the swings. By the time he caught up to Gavin, Gavin was already swinging back and forth, high up in the air.

Michael, not really caring for the swings, sat in the swing to the left of Gavin’s and dug the heels of his shoes into the woodchips. He pushed himself back and forth lightly, but he didn’t come anywhere near airborne.

Noticing Michael’s reluctance, Gavin slowed down and came to a stop. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing,” Michael answered honestly. “I just don’t care much for swings.”

“Aww, well, why not?” Gavin pushed. “Everyone loves swings.”

Michael raised an eyebrow at that. “Kids, maybe,” he responded, lowering his gaze to the ground.

“You can like them too!” Gavin claimed. Since Michael was looking down, he didn’t see Gavin get up and get behind him. He jolted, feeling the chains rattle. When he looked up, he tilted his head all the way up to see Gavin staring down at him. “C’mon, Michael, take hold of the chains! I’ll push you!”

Everything from his safety to his logical thinking told Michael to say _no, Gavin, I will not let you push me on the swings like a child_. And yet, he didn’t say no. Instead, he sighed, preparing himself for the worst as he grabbed hold of the chains. Gavin gave him some room, and Michael stood up and backed up a few steps. He then sat down and lifted his legs, giving himself the momentum to start swinging.

Each time Michael went backwards, Gavin was always there to push him forward again. After a few pushes, Gavin asked, “Having fun yet?”

To Michael, it was still pretty much the same. Even with Gavin to push him, nothing felt different about it. Then again, the sheer ridiculousness of the situation was enough to make him laugh. A sophomore being pushed on the swing by another sophomore at ten-thirty in the morning on a Saturday. The idea itself was comedic enough to make Michael laugh. “Okay, yes,” he said. “It’s kind of fun.”

“Good!” Gavin beamed. “I’ll stop pushing now, though, since you’re kind of heavy.” Michael scoffed, but allowed him to stop. Gavin then took a seat in his own swing again, but he didn’t start swinging. Instead, he opted to watch Michael as he swung back and forth.

Michael noticed Gavin’s staring and immediately felt confused. This time, it was his turn to ask, “What?” Gavin didn’t answer, so Michael came to a full stop, again digging his heels into the woodchips. “What?” he repeated the question.

“I was just thinking,” Gavin explained, looking away for a moment. He looked back to Michael and grinned. “Just that, even though I’m really upset about the rumors, I’m glad they happened since I got to spend time with you.”

“This again?” Michael laughed. “I told you, we hang out, like, all the time. This isn’t anything new.”

“And _I_ told you that it’s been a while since we’ve done something like this!” Gavin pointed out. “It gave us a good excuse to finally do something together again.”

“Yeah, okay,” Michael agreed. “But we didn’t _need_ the rumors. You could have just asked if I was busy.”

“But this makes it more interesting and funny!” Gavin responded.

Michael shook his head as he laughed again. At this point, he couldn’t tell if Gavin was more thankful or angry for the rumors. Speaking of the rumors, Michael realized that Gavin never actually told him how they came about. “Hey, Gavin,” he started, getting Gavin’s attention. “What even started those rumors?”

“Huh?” Gavin asked, turning his full attention back to Michael. Once he had processed what Michael asked, he groaned. He took hold of the chains and leaned back, laying almost parallel to the ground.

Michael allowed him some time to whine about it, staring at him the whole while. Well, he guessed he couldn’t have brought it up without expecting this. After a few seconds, Michael asked, “You good?”

Gavin suddenly sat up straight and turned to Michael. “No,” he admitted, his shoulders slumping. Michael watched him expectantly, waiting for a continued explanation. “I just don’t get it!” Gavin complained, twisting the swing to the side so that he could face Michael. “I have _one_ conversation with Ryan, and suddenly we’re the power couple of the school?!”

Michael couldn’t help but break out into laughter at that notion. Shocked that Michael could find anything about this situation funny, Gavin frowned and scolded his friend. “Michael! It’s not funny!”

It took all of Michael’s strength to gain enough air to assure Gavin that _yes_ , it was indeed _very_ funny. Despite his claim, Gavin wasn’t having any of it. Growing more frustrated, Gavin continued to plead with Michael to shut up about it.

Once Michael had calmed down enough to form a coherent sentence, he practically wheezed, “Must have been one hell of a conversation.”

“Well, it wasn’t,” Gavin huffed, continuing to deny the whole thing. “It was just normal people stuff. Stuff that anyone talks about!”

Michael scoffed, lifting his feet off the ground and leaning back slightly to start slowly swinging again. “Yeah? Then what were you talking about?” he questioned.

Getting tired of twisting the swing to the left, Gavin stood up, swung his left leg over the seat, and plopped himself down so that he was facing Michael. He took hold of the chain with both hands and pulled himself close to it so that his face rested next to it. “I don’t know, Ryan suddenly started talking about the future and all that.” Gavin paused, leaning back against the other chain. Once he remembered what he was going to say next, he sat up straight again. “Stuff about jobs and family.”

Michael stopped swinging and turned to face Gavin again. There was a moment of awkward silence between them before Michael spoke up again. “I think you’re lying,” he said bluntly.

“What?!” Gavin shouted in overdramatic disbelief. “What are you talking about, Michael? Why would I lie?”

Michael shrugged. “Well, the rumors said that your face was red as a tomato.” He stopped to look over Gavin’s face for some kind of indicator that he was clearly lying to back up his next point, but he came up with nothing. Deciding it wasn’t all that important, he continued with the rest of his statement anyway. “I don’t think that ‘jobs and family’ would be enough to get that kind of reaction out of you.”

“But it’s true!” Gavin countered as he actively ignored the part about his red face, leaning far past the chain he was holding onto.

“Uh huh.” At this point, Michael had decided that he didn’t _really_ care if Gavin was lying or not—messing with him was just too good to pass up.

“I’m not lying!” Gavin was _really_ starting to lose it. Admittedly, Michael was starting to feel a little bad about it. But not enough to really let it go.

Michael hummed, looking away for a moment as he thought. “Alright, fine,” he said, focusing on Gavin again. “If you’re not lying, then you shouldn’t have a problem telling me what happened in detail, right?”

Gavin sighed, frustrated with the whole ordeal. He didn’t really want to, but if it would get Michael to believe him, he’d do it. “Fine,” he agreed.

Michael’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. He’d really only said it to mess with Gavin. He didn’t think Gavin would actually do it. Regardless, he welcomed the explanation. “Go on, then,” he said.

“All I know is that Ryan suddenly brought up the future and whether or not I would want to do more acting in the future,” Gavin began, explaining as he replayed the memory in his mind. “After that, he moved on to more permanent things, like friends and family.”

Gavin looked to Michael to make sure he was listening. Michael nodded, signaling for Gavin to continue explaining.

“So, he said he’d want to get married and have kids, and he’d want to keep me and everyone else around as his friends,” Gavin continued, looking away as he recalled the memories. “And then he asked who _I_ wanted to keep as friends and family, and I said the obvious of course.”

“Right, right,” Michael said, telling Gavin to continue.

“And I said, well, I couldn’t ever get rid of Lindsay or Dan or, of course, you,” Gavin explained. “And then, I—”

Gavin suddenly stopped himself, clapping a hand over his mouth. He couldn’t believe he almost let his next few words slip out.

_That_ certainly got Michael’s attention. “Oh, no. No, no, Gavin.” He smirked and watched Gavin expectantly, a look that Gavin refused to answer to. “And then what?” he prodded. “You can’t leave it at that!”

Gavin shook his head wildly at Michael’s request. He could feel his face heating up in embarrassment at the thought of it. Just the memory of Ryan claiming that he had feelings for Michael was too much to handle. But letting Michael know about such alleged feelings? He would die. Not that he had any, of course. Ryan had just said that because he was being Ryan. Gavin definitely didn’t have any feelings for his friend of just about two months, thank you very much.

Michael couldn’t help but laugh at Gavin’s frazzled expression. “Damn you,” he said under his breath as he smiled, pushing himself in the swing closer to Gavin. “Just tell me, dammit!” he yelled, reaching for the hand that Gavin _still_ had covering his mouth.

In shock, Gavin leaned back, determined to keep Michael from finding out what happened. But Gavin had leaned back so far and so quickly that he lost his balance and fell out of the swing. His arms went out behind him in a desperate attempt to catch himself, but to no avail. Within seconds, his back had hit the woodchips.

“Oh my god,” Michael whispered as he stood up. He rushed over to Gavin and bent down, offering a hand to his friend. “You okay?”

Gavin shook his head to rid his hair of any stray chips and to clear his head. “Yeah,” he said, moving to grab Michael’s hand. He winced as his right arm moved, feeling some pain in his shoulder blade. Michael watched him worriedly, but Gavin put up his left hand to tell him not to worry. “It’s fine.”

Michael hesitated for a moment, not fully believing that Gavin was fine. After deciding that he was probably okay, Michael sighed and tightened his grip on Gavin’s hand. With a grunt, he slowly helped Gavin to his feet.

“Thanks,” Gavin mumbled. He brushed the stray woodchips off his shoulders with a grimace. He also took a quick look around to see if anyone was watching. While there weren’t that many people invested in his fall, Gavin did notice that a lot more people had come to the park—especially children.  “Michael,” Gavin said, getting Michael’s attention. “Maybe we should go?” he suggested, looking around at the kids who had come to the playground.

Michael followed Gavin’s gaze and nodded. “Okay,” he agreed. “Let’s get out of here.”

Michael started heading toward the exit, and Gavin followed close behind. Once he was safely out of Michael’s vision, he relaxed his shoulders, internally sighing a breath of relief. It certainly wasn’t the best way to steer the conversation in a different direction, but damn, if it didn’t work.

_Damn Ryan for being Ryan_ , Gavin thought. _This is all his fault._

 

“Was this really necessary?”

The sudden question brought Lindsay back from her thoughts and into reality. She was leaning on her elbow, looking away as she sipped on a milkshake. Once she processed the question, she glanced up at the questioner.

Ryan stood on the opposite side of a McDonald’s booth holding a tray of food and getting ready to sit. He looked down at Lindsay quizzically, expecting an answer to his question.

Lindsay sat up straight and nodded as Ryan sat down. “Yes, this was _absolutely_ necessary,” she confirmed confidently.

The truth was that the whole get together was a sham. Lindsay had set the whole thing up. She planned the whole day to be fun and full of bonding time for Michael and Gavin. Of course, it wasn’t a total lie. Lindsay’s motive was still the same—to fix a relationship. She just wasn’t included in the equation.

Ryan’s quizzical stare hadn’t let up, so Lindsay sighed and began to explain. “Ryan, remind me of what started the rumors between you and Gavin.”

Ryan shrugged, taking a set of fries for himself. “I might have suggested that Gavin had romantic feelings for Michael. He freaked out, and, well, word gets around fast.”

“Exactly!” Lindsay paused to take a few fries from the tray before continuing. “Now, why would he react that way if it wasn’t at least a _little_ true?”

Ryan didn’t verbally respond, but he did nod slightly as if to acknowledge her point. Lindsay took that as her cue to continue. “And if that isn’t enough of a good reason, I basically said the same thing to Michael. On the same day! And he had the _same_ reaction!”

She shrugged and took another sip of her milkshake. “Coincidence? Or fate? Whatever it was, I couldn’t just sit back and watch. I had to do something.”

“Uh huh,” Ryan agreed skeptically. “And your master plan was to get them to hang out?” Lindsay smiled, pleased with herself and her well thought out plan, but Ryan didn’t seem to agree. “I don’t get it. They would have done that anyway! You didn’t need to do this.”

Lindsay shook her head as she laughed at Ryan’s simplemindedness. “Oh, no, Ryan. The plan wasn’t to just get them to hang out. It was to put them on a facilitated date!”

“Oh,” Ryan said as he leaned back and crossed his arms. He tried to make sense of her statement, but he ultimately failed. “Facilitated?” he repeated, asking for an explanation.

“Yes, Ryan, a _facilitated_ date!” Lindsay also repeated, emphasizing the word. “If we let them do whatever they want, they would have just spent the whole day playing video games or something.” She paused to grab a few fries from the tray. “That’s why I specifically planned this day to be a whole date full of clichés! A quiet morning in the park, fast food for lunch, an afternoon at the arcade, and a cheesy rom-com to end the day!” She took another sip of her milkshake and nodded approvingly at her own plan. “And, of course, we’re here to make sure it all goes smoothly, and to use what we learn as leverage for next time!”

Ryan nodded as he ate from his own set of fries. “But I thought the whole point was to get them to remember their past, not just get them together.”

Lindsay’s eyes widened in surprise as Ryan called her out on her flawed plan. She sighed, and her shoulders slumped as she conceded, acknowledging that Ryan was right. “Okay, fine,” she muttered, looking off to the side. “Maybe I’m a little caught up in the fact that they’ve developed romantic feelings for each other.” She stopped, losing herself in her thoughts.

Suddenly, she looked back at Ryan and spoke up again. “But that’s good, isn’t it?” she asked, hopeful that he would agree. “Maybe if they realize that they have romantic feelings for each other, they’ll look into it and realize that their feelings are so much more deeply rooted than just love?”

Ryan sighed, wanting to believe her. As much as he wanted to agree, he knew that it was really just wishful thinking. “Look, I’m not saying that I’m against the whole thing. Actually, I think they’re a good match.” He paused, trying to figure out how to word his next statement. “I just… don’t see how love will lead to recovering repressed memories.”

Lindsay frowned. She hated to admit it, but Ryan was right. She groaned and rested her head on the table, not knowing what to do. She stayed that way for a while, trying to figure out how to remedy the plan so that they could reach their original goal as well.

Ryan watched as Lindsay engaged herself in her own mental battle. He almost felt bad about bringing up the discrepancy, but it did need to be said. He just wished that he could help Lindsay think of a better plan, but he, too, was coming up with nothing.

After some thinking, Lindsay tilted her head up to look at Ryan. “We can do both, can’t we?” she suggested.

Ryan raised an eyebrow at that. “Well, I don’t see why not. But the question you really should be asking is: how?”

Lindsay straightened up and locked her fingers together. “Well,” she began explaining, “we can still get them together, as a couple. And then, I guess…” She trailed off, looking off in another direction again as she thought. Eventually, she shrugged, sighed, and brought her attention back to Ryan. “I guess we can just keep pushing them in the right direction until they get there themselves.”

Ryan’s brow furrowed as he thought on her suggestion. If he was being completely honest, it didn’t seem much different from before. Still, he didn’t want to completely toss the idea away, so he pushed her to explain. “Go on,” he encouraged.

“I just think that, maybe, if they get together, it’ll be easier for them to open up to each other,” Lindsay tried to explain. “Like, Michael and Gavin can’t seem to remember since they’ve covered it up. But the memories aren’t gone, they’re just repressed.”

She paused, and Ryan nodded, showing that he was following her. “If they get together, their connection will be more intimate, and they’ll probably trust each other more. With our help and their willingness to cooperate, maybe they can slowly uncover their memories and piece their pasts together.”

Ryan leaned back and crossed his arms, taking a minute to think about it. Now that Lindsay had fully explained her thinking, he could agree that it wasn’t a completely outlandish idea. After some time, Ryan came up with his answer. “Okay,” he agreed. “I can’t say it’ll work. Hell, I can’t even say it’s possible to uncover repressed memories.” He leaned forward and crossed his arms on the table. “But I did say I was going to help, and I want to see it work out. And if this is the plan we’ve got, we might as well stick with it.”

Lindsay smiled, feeling herself instantly relax from the stress she’d just put herself through. “Thanks, Ryan. I’m glad to have you as my partner.”

“Of course, who else could you trust to carry out a scheme like this?” Ryan laughed. “Besides, you’re right, they’re like a perfect match for each other. They suit each other—”

Since Ryan had been watching the door, the sound of it opening cut him off. He glanced in the door’s direction and was pleasantly surprised to see two very familiar faces. “Well,” he murmured, “speak of the devil.”

It took a lot of self-control to stop herself from turning around to look, but Lindsay managed to stay still. “Great,” she responded. She tied her hair up into a bun and placed a baseball cap on her head to hide it. She kept her head down so as to avoid attention. “Now we watch,” she said softly, peering up at Ryan from under the brim of the hat.

Ryan hummed in agreement. He also had a baseball cap on which hid his hair quite well. For extra safety, he put on some sunglasses as well. After getting his disguise together, he took a notebook and a couple of old worksheets out of his bag and placed them on the table. Keeping his head down, he pretended to fill out some homework.

“I still can’t believe they didn’t notice us at the park,” Ryan mentioned quietly as he glanced up at the two boys. Michael had saved a table for them closer to the middle of the restaurant while Gavin went to go buy the food. Worried that one of them might notice the staring, Ryan immediately looked back down. “We made it so obvious, too.”

Lindsay snickered and took another sip from her half-melted milkshake. “Well, Ryan, we’re not exactly dealing with the most observant people here.”

“No, I guess not,” Ryan agreed with a laugh. He started to doodle small patterns on the notebook page he’d flipped to. “But we were pretty close to them, and we were watching them for a while. Anyone would have noticed!”

Lindsay shrugged and placed her phone on the table. “Well, you brought us both a change of clothes, and we were sitting on a bench far away enough that they couldn’t easily see us.” She unlocked the phone as she spoke and opened her messages to check if either Gavin or Michael had updated her on their day. When she saw that nothing new had been said, she clicked her tongue and locked her phone again.

Ryan noticed the action and tapped his pen on the page he was doodling on. “Nothing new?”

“Other than the text Gavin sent when they left the park, no,” Lindsay said. She turned the screen on quickly to check again, but there still wasn’t a new text. “Yeah, no,” she confirmed with a sigh. She looked up at Ryan and snuck a quick glance to her right before focusing on Ryan again. “What are they up to?”

Ryan hummed, trying his best to take a quick look at Michael. Michael was still seated at the table, absentmindedly using his phone. “Michael’s just sitting,” Ryan reported. He then glanced over at Gavin, who stood in front of the counter waiting. “And Gavin seems to have placed his order. I think he’s just waiting for the food now.”

Lindsay nodded, and the two of them fell into a comfortable silence as they waited for Gavin to get his food and sit down. It didn’t take long for them to notice, since Ryan took a glance every couple of seconds.

As soon as Gavin sat down, Ryan tapped his pen on the notebook page again. Lindsay perked up at the action and nodded. “What now?” she asked.

Ryan shrugged, observing the scene as it unfolded. Gavin sat opposite to Michael, and a conversation started immediately as they took their individual meals from the tray. “They’re just talking. You know, acting like they normally do. And eating.”

Lindsay laughed, rolling her eyes. “Thanks, that’s exactly what I was looking for.”

“Well, what do you want me to say?” Ryan laughed, trying to keep his voice down. “That’s it. That’s all they’re doing! Eating, because that’s all you can do at a McDonalds!”

Lindsay bit her lip to keep herself from laughing too hard. “Okay, fine, let me know when something interesting happens.”

“Will do,” Ryan answered, lowering his head to continue doodling.

Once again, the two of them fell silent as they waited for something to happen. Ryan occasionally looked up at Gavin and Michael, hoping to see something worthwhile going on. For the most part, it seemed like the two of them were locked in normal conversation. Nothing all that entertaining.

After some time, though, Ryan started to notice that the conversation was starting to take a different turn. It was hard to tell because of the noise and distance, but it looked like Michael was starting to get more defensive while Gavin was trying to get something out of him.

Ryan raised a brow and tapped on the table. Lindsay looked up at him almost immediately, silently asking for an explanation. “Looks like Gavin’s trying to get something out of Michael,” Ryan observed.

“Oh, yeah?” Lindsay smiled. “What do you mean?”

Ryan shrugged, trying to keep his head down as he watched. “I think Gavin’s trying to get Michael to tell him something, but Michael isn’t budging.” Ryan did his best to watch and understand what was happening, but he had to continuous looked away to avoid detection. “I’m not sure,” he said to follow up his statement. “But that’s definitely what it looks like.”

Lindsay nodded, slowly peeking behind her to try and get a look at the two of them. She snuck a quick glance and turned to face Ryan again once she was satisfied. “Yeah, it sure looks like it,” she agreed.

Ryan watched as Gavin leaned over the table towards Michael with a smirk as Michael crossed his arms and leaned away from Gavin. He couldn’t quite make out what Gavin was saying, but if it was anything like what they saw from the playground, Gavin was probably pressing Michael for something concerning the rumors.

He looked down for a second at his notebook, just to avoid being noticed, before looking up again. When he did, it looked like Gavin had backed off.

Ryan suddenly gasped a bit too loudly. Lindsay’s eyes widened, and she locked her phone and frantically looked up at Ryan for something, _anything_. He glanced at Lindsay for a moment and then back at Michael and Gavin. “Sorry,” he apologized, shaking his head. “I just—” He paused, trying to comprehend what he was about to say. “I think I saw Michael blush.”

Lindsay covered her mouth with one hand to keep herself from laughing too hard. “Oh my god… You’re serious?” Ryan nodded, and Lindsay grinned. “Holy shit. This might be easier than we thought.”

Ryan chuckled as looked back at Lindsay. “It was only for a second, but I’m sure I saw it.” He paused and circled the tip of the pen on the notebook paper before looking back up at Lindsay again. “I think you might be right. We might really have a chance here.”

Lindsay laughed as a smug grin stretched across her face. “Of course I’m right, Ryan.” She unlocked her phone again to check her messages, but, once again, there was nothing there. “What’s going on now?” she asked as she pocketed her phone.

Ryan shrugged. Nothing was going on the last time he looked up, so he assumed it was still the same. “I don’t think anything’s happening,” he began as he glanced at the two of them again, only to be proved wrong. He stopped short upon seeing the next image he was presented with. “Oh my god,” was all he could manage.

Lindsay’s eyes widened yet again. “What? What is it?” she pried.

Ryan shook his head, trying to understand what was happening. He stuttered, trying to get the sentence started. “Gavin is currently attempting to feed Michael fries,” he finally managed.

Lindsay’s mouth dropped open in disbelief as she struggled to keep herself quiet. She practically squirmed in her seat, wanting nothing more than to turn around and watch the scene herself. Regardless, her better judgement and self control won over her impulses and she stayed put. “Ryan, please, you can’t just say that and not describe what’s going on.”

Ryan laughed and began to describe the scene in detail for Lindsay as he observed it. Gavin was leaning over the table and holding a fry in front of Michael’s face as he tried to get Michael to eat it. Michael didn’t seem disgusted by the action, but he seemed to find it rather ludicrous as he swatted Gavin’s hand away.

Ryan had to remember to avoid detection, so he relayed the details between glances. Once it looked like Gavin had finally given up, Ryan lowered his gaze to his notebook again. “I think it’s over.”

“Yeah?” Lindsay asked, trying to look behind her again.

Ryan started to make a noise of confirmation, but he looked up at Gavin and Michael just in time to be proved wrong yet again. “No, I was wrong,” Ryan said as he described what would happen this time. “This time, Michael’s feeding Gavin.”

Michael was holding out a fry in front of Gavin this time. Unlike Michael, though, Gavin leaned in to take it. However, when Gavin got close enough, Michael dropped the fry and used his finger to leave a stripe of ketchup on Gavin’s cheek.

The action resulted in Gavin screaming and Michael crying with laughter. Ryan, too, had to keep himself from laughing too noticeably after that exchange. Lindsay quickly whipped her head around to take a look as cautiously as she could as she bit her lip to keep from laughing again.

Gavin stood suddenly and walked off in some direction, probably to get a napkin, Ryan decided. To his surprise, however, Michael also collected their garbage and went to throw it away. “They’re leaving,” Ryan concluded aloud.

“Damn,” Lindsay clicked her tongue. “So soon? After all that?”

Ryan nodded as he watched Michael move to the front door. Gavin quickly joined him, and, after nudging him in the side, left the building. Michael followed quickly, laughing the whole time.

Once they were in the clear, Ryan sighed and took the sunglasses off. “That was an experience.”

Lindsay laughed, taking her phone out of her pocket. As expected, a text from Gavin had just come through. “‘Heading to the arcade now!’” she read aloud. “‘Hope you’ll join us soon!’” She quickly sent back an apologetic text explaining that she and Ryan hadn’t finished yet before pocketing her phone again. “An experience indeed,” she agreed.

After a pause, Ryan shook his head. “How can you just… act like that, and be so oblivious?” He took a moment to look out the window and see if he could catch them walking down the street. After seeing nothing, he turned back to Lindsay. “I mean, _come on_.”

Lindsay laughed a little harder that time and nodded. “You see, Ryan, this is why this was _absolutely_ necessary.” She stood up and stretched. “C’mon, you heard me. We gotta head to the arcade now. Now that the ball’s rolling, we gotta keep it going.”

“You know, Lindsay,” Ryan started as he put away his things, “if I wasn’t invested in this before, I definitely am now.” He zipped up his bag and stood up, slinging it over his shoulder. For a moment, he thought about it, but ultimately nodded. “Yeah. _Definitely_ invested.”

Lindsay grinned. “Glad to hear it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> merry christmilk everyone


End file.
